No Ordinary Summer
by Alusy
Summary: Four rich girls meet four rich boys at a summer camp, and they don't like each other. Things start happening that stress their lives even more. Will they make it through together, or fall apart?
1. I'm Going Where?

**NOTE;;;** Tenten's last name, 'Irikuchi', means 'gate' or 'entrance'. So you know, since her name means 'heaven', or 'heavenly', I thought 'heavenly gate' would work, no?

I mean, Sakura Haruno is 'Cherryblossom in the Spring,' Ino Yamanaka is 'Pig/Boar in the Mountain," and Hinata Hyuuga is 'A Sunny Place Towards the Sun." Why can't Tenten have a name that forms a sentence?

I know I should be updating my other story, but this idea is stuck in my head. This is only a test, though. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue it, but I'll see if you guys like it or not.

I just want to say that the main characters will rotate. I'm going to try to give everyone an even part, but in the end, I'm sure one or two pairings will get a bigger part than the other ones. And it may seem like Ino has a big part for the first chapter or two, but it will all balance out.

And you know when you search for the main characters? That will change as well, because in one chapter there might be only one pairing in it. Just letting you know.

And the first few chapters may seem a little boring, but don't skip any parts! Some of the information foreshadows events coming up, and if you miss it, you won't get it when the time comes. And this chapter is a little short, but it'll get longer. I just wanted to separate the introductions with what happens next.

And please excuse my spelling/grammar mistakes.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

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A girl with blonde hair stood outside on her balcony, leaning against the ledge. "Summer camp?" she repeated, remembering the meeting she recently had with her parents. Ino was told she was being sent to summer camp for a whole month. And to her, that meant no shopping. It wasn't just any summer camp that any parent would sent their kids to, though. It was a very expensive summer camp only rich people could afford. Ino shuddered at the thought of spending time with people who were as, if not more wealthy than her. She wasn't one of the richest kids going, she knew, but Ino was quite well off. Her best friends were going as well, so if she needed someone to complain to, she had three choices: Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, and Tenten Irikuchi. These four girls made the phrase 'opposites attract'. 

There were, however, a few good points about going to summer camp. Her parents wouldn't be there, so she had a lot of freedom. And she wouldn't have to see Daiki Susume. He lived only a few houses down the road. His family was extremely rich as well, but he was travelling to somewhere else for that month. Ino suspected that her parents and his parents have been trying to set the two up for about two years, but Ino showed no interest. She found him quite annoying, actually. He had ruffled, dirty, blond hair, and sparkling brown eyes that could drown almost any girl in. Sometimes her friends would talk about him as well. "And those wonderfully white teeth!" Sakura once swooned, mocking some of the girls who liked him. Ino had to agree, though. His teeth were perfect, like most of his appearance. But his personality... It was so annoying! He was so smug and full of himself, acting as though he always understood everyone. And that way he looked at her...like she was an object. Daiki said he liked her more than once, but Ino just didn't like him that way, therefore she rejected him.

Ino had packed her bags already for the long trip the next day. A bus was supposed to take them to the camp, so Ino and her friends decided to meet up at the mall first for some last minute shopping. "Who knows?" Ino had said. "Maybe there will be a sale on the last day." The girls cracked up at Ino's hopes and agreed. Most of the room in her bags was filled with clothing. Casual clothing, skirts, shorts, v-neck sweaters, etc. She managed to stuff other things like her toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, etc. in spare room. Ino even brought her wallet with money inside in case there was a mall there, or even a small store.

"Miss Ino, you should be getting some sleep," one of the maids said, carrying the snack tray out of Ino's room.

Ino nodded. "Yeah, thanks," she muttered, walking out of the balcony and shutting the doors closed. _Tomorrow is going to be so different,_ she thought, plopping onto her bed and immediately rolling onto her side. _Just remember...charge your iPod._ And with that, Ino fell asleep.

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Ino spun around and posed once more in front of the mirror. She wore a light purple v-neck sweater over a white top and expensive brand jeans. It was simple looking, but all of the rich people knew that outfit would cost over $200 because of the brands. The hanging diamond earrings made the look even more expensive, but Ino liked to act as though it wasn't that much money. "I'm leaving," she said to her parents, grabbing the heavy bags and walking outside.

"Don't forget your iPod, Miss Ino!" another maid said, carrying the object in her hand.

"Oh, geez, thanks Miaka! I don't know what I'd do without this," Ino exclaimed with relief, grabbing the object and running out. "Bye!"

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Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten sat on the bench next to the water fountain in the middle of the mall. Ino was late, and she was never late to the mall. Sakura swished her pink hair around each time she looked left, right, and behind her, trying to catch a sign of her friend. "Ino is late," she stated obviously. "Do you think she's okay?"

"She's probably just trying some clothing on," Tenten stated in a matter of fact tone, shoving her hands on her army pants pockets.

"Look, there she is!" Hinata exclaimed, pointing to an approaching yellow and purple dot.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Ino panted, bending over to catch her breath. "There was a lot more traffic than I thought. Let's get going before we miss the bus!"

The four girls gasped, their mouths in an 'o' shape. "You don't want to do some last minute shopping?" Sakura asked sceptically, cocking her head to the side.

Ino shook her head and clicked her white heels together impatiently. "I'd rather just get out of this city now and get this camp over with," she said, felt a stinging sensation as the words rolled off her tongue gracefully. Her friends gave her a suspicious look, not yet able to digest the fact that Ino didn't want to go shoppping. That's when Ino began to perform a familiar habit she always did when she was nervous. She left all of her weight on her left leg, and kicked the heels of her left shoe with her right heel. After she did this twice, she switched so the weight was on her right leg, and kicked the heel of her right foot with her left heel.

"What's the truth?" Tenten interrogated, arching her eyebrows and crossing her arms. A roguish simper crawled onto her face when she saw Ino was slowly breaking down.

"Okay, okay," Ino moaned, throwing her hands up to surrender. "I just wanted to get out of here before I see Daiki."

Sakura and Tenten threw their hands up to their mouths and gasped teasingly. "Mister I-Think-I-Can-Get-Girls-By-Using-Pick-Up-Lines? Why would you want to avoid him?" Sakura laughed sarcastically. Ino went to say something, but realized it was true. When Daiki first met Sakura, he had used an old pick-up line. Tenten related it to a soccer game, meaning he shot and missed. Or rather, it was deflected and hit him where it hurt the most.

"He isn't that bad," Hinata stated, trying to be the nice girl once again. "He's just full of himself, that's all."

Ino brought her hand up and fake slapped each of Hinata's cheeks with one hand. "Stop defending him, Hinata! He doesn't deserve it. Learn to insult people when they deserve it."

Hinata scratched her head uneasily and nodded. "Okay," she responded quietly, although nobody believe she was going to be insulting any time soon. She brought her right hand up and glanced at the purple wrist watch with golden rimming. "We should get going now, anyways. We've got ten minutes to get to the bus before it leaves," she stated, walking towards her bags.

Sakura, Tenten, and Ino picked up their bags and nodded in accordance. The bus was set to pick everyone up at Konoha Park (A/N: Sue me for my lack of originality, okay?), and it was only a five minute walk. And with that, the four girls made their way, with Sakura and Ino bidding good-bye to the mall for a whole month.

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Three boys sat on the park bench, waiting for their last friend. He chucked his last orange bag into the bus and sighed with wiped his forehead. "Okay, I'm done!" he hollered, waving his empty hands at his friends. "But shouldn't we get into the bus? I mean, it's leaving in seven minutes. We want to get some seats, right?"

A boy with raven hair scoffed and brushed a few loose strands of hair out of his pale face. "There are twenty-eight seats, Naruto," he stated haughtily, "and there are twenty-eight people attending the camp. That means there's enough seats for everyone."

"Hey, shut up, Sasuke!" Naruto barked back, sore from the stab at his pride.

"Will you two stop arguing?" Shikamaru sighed, placing the butt of his palm on his forehead. "We haven't even started this trip yet."

The last boy with long brown hair in a low ponytail respired deeply and allowed his pearl-coloured eyes to scan the sky for anyone else. "Just watch what you say," he lectured. "My cousin, Hinata, is coming as well with her friends." He looked around then pushed himself off of the bench. "There they are," he said, walking over to the approaching group.

Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sasuke followed him , wondering if it was okay for Neji to see girls at that time. After all, not many people can recover from heartbreak in just a few days. And Neji Hyuuga was not one for forgive easily.

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"Hinata," Neji greeted stiffly as he advanced closer to the group of girls.

"Neji!" Hinata beamed, waving at him. She turned to her friends and pointed to the still boy. "Everyone, this is my cousin Neji. He's coming on the trip as well, with his friends." She turned back to Neji and smiled. "Neji, this is Sakura, Ino, and Tenten," she introduced, pointing to each girl as she said their names.

"Hey," they all said in unison, waving slightly at the boy.

He nodded in an acknowledging manner. "My _friends_ are back there, but they're coming," he said in a cool voice that seemed to freeze the air around them. Nobody but him knew how ugly 'friends' sounded when he said it. "The blond one is Naruto, the navy haired one is Sasuke, and the one with the high ponytail is Shikamaru."

Tenten lightly blushed at the boy before them. Although he had feminine looking hair---which, she mentally added, looked much silkier and softer than the woman's in the commercial---his looks took her breath away. She crossed her right leg behind her left one and clasping her hands together behind her back. Her friends recognized the nervous habit automatically and smirked.

_Shot in the forehead,_ they all thought at the same time. It was a phrase they used when one of them fell in love. It was odd, but that was the reason they chose it. Nobody was able to understand the concept of it, lucky for them.

The three boys finally caught up at the same time and either nodded their heads in greeting, or waved energetically (guess who). "Hi," the blond grinned, "my name is---"

"Naruto, right?" Hinata interupted. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interupt you," she added quickly, lightly blushing from embarrassment. "It's just my cousin told us your names already."

Naruto scowled and stuck his tongue out at the stoic prodigy, who merely rolled his eyes at his friend's immature actions. "Yep, that's me! Naruto Uzumaki, reporting for duty!"

"Let's just get on the bus," Sasuke muttered. He turned around and walked away. Shikamaru followed him, and so did Neji.

"We'll see you guys later!" Naruto exclaimed, waving good-bye. He spun around and raced back to the bus.

Sakura frowned and crossed her arms. "That Sasuke guy seems nice," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So does that Neji guy," Tenten said in an equally sarcastic tone.

Hinata rubbed the back of her head and laughed weakly. "I'm sure they'll be nicer if we just get to know them," she said optimistically.

Ino sighed and threw her hands up in the air as if giving up. She gave Hinata a 'you're way to nice and optimistic' look and began walking to the bus. Sakura nodded and followed Ino, and the two began chatting animatedly about the upcoming events. Tenten snorted and patted Hinata gently on the head. "Come on, let's get going."

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Nothing to say here for now. Review! 


	2. The Bus Ride There

**NOTE;;;** Arg, I just realized that 28 can't be divided by two, then divided by four. So this is how it's going to work:

3 cabins will be for four girls only  
3 cabins will be for four boys only  
1 cabin will have two girls (those girls won't be mentioned, unless I decide to later.)  
1 cabin will have two boys (those boys won't be mentioned, unless I decide to later.)

But this information isn't required to know. I just thought I'd let you know, because it has been bothering me. -sweatdrop-  
And my whole idea for this story has sort of changed. But I need you all to take a vote:

**Would you prefer this story to have more humour and some drama?  
Or more drama and some humour?**

It was originally supposed to be drama, but I think I'm overusing it, because my other fanfiction is revolved around drama. So I want to make it mostly humour, but there will be some really dramatic parts as well. Is that okay with you guys, or do you want me to make more drama and less humour? I'm putting this as Humour/Romance at the moment because I am undecided. Please vote on this when you review!

I will gather votes until **July 2nd at 12:00.** After that, I won't count the rest of the votes, unless it's a tie. I'm only giving until July 2 because I want to be able to plan out the rest of the story and submit the next chapter soon.

And I know there isn't really any Ino/Shika moments in this chapter, but I will be developing! Everyone is just getting to know each other. In the next chapter, however, there will be romances.

Also, check my profile page under 'Updates'. I already have a section there for it.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

The bus was designed differently than they had hoped. Instead of the regular two column with two chairs in each row, there were two long columns of chairs that faced each other on either side of the bus. There were eight seats left; four on each side, right across from each other. (A/N: I hope you get what I'm saying.)The girls took their seats next to each other, and the boys sat across from them. Right when they sat down, all of them flipped out their iPods and turned them on. But before any of them could choose a song, one of the volunteers stood in the front of the bus and clapped twice to grab everyone's attention.

"Okay, listen up guys," she said in a booming voice. "My name is Kurenai Yuuhi, and I'm one of the people that will be supervising this trip. There are six of us here." She moved to the side to reveal four other men and one woman.

The man with brown hair tied up in a high ponytail smiled and waved. "My name is Iruka Umino."

Next to him was a man with silver hair . He lazily looked up with his right eye (strangely his left eye was covered). "Yo. I'm Kakashi Hatake."

The only girl there took a commanding step forwards, brought her right hand up, and pointed to herself with her thumb. "I'm Anko Mitarashi. Watch out, 'cause I've got the eye of an eagle."

"And she stings like a bee," Kakashi muttered through his mask.

The front of the class that could hear him burst out laughing as Anko reddened and punched Kakashi's head. He rubbed it and muttered a few curses. The last man took a step forwards. He had black hair fashioned in a bowl-cut, and bushy eyebrows that looked like two caterpillars. "Maito Gai at your service!" He flashed a smile, and his extremely white teeth practically blinded the whole bus.

Kurenai cleared her throat to draw the attention back to her. "The bus ride will take about an hour and ten minutes. And that's if there isn't much traffic."

"So mentally and physically---if possible---prepare yourself for the rigorous training we're about to put you through," Anko said finally, smirking. "This isn't a vacation, you rich kids. You're going to be running in the mud, rolling in the mud, even bathing with the mud!"

The majority of the girls exclaimed, "Ewwww!"

"Pfft," Anko sputtered, "I'm just kidding, people. Get back to those fancy gadgets of yours."

That was the part that everyone completely understood. They all turned their iPods back on and popped the headphones in their ears.

"Aw man!" Ino whined.

Sakura turned to her and raised an eyebrow. Ino brought her purple iPod up (A/N: I know there isn't purple, but in my story, they come in all colours) and pointed to the blank screen. Sakura sighed. "You push the centre button, Ino. I thought we taught you that before!"

Ino playfully punched her and frowned. "The battery is dead, forehead. I forgot to charge it."

The pink-haired girl flashed her pink iPod at Ino, showing off the battery bar. It was full. "I'll share with you, if you beg." She smirked when Ino gaped at her with disbelief. Ino couldn't live without music, shopping, or clothes, and taking one of them away from her could make her your personal slave. She grinned with excitement, and began considering if she should take her pink camera out. _I can't believe I'm going to see Ino beg me for---_

Before Sakura could continue that thought, her right ear piece was taken out and placed in Ino's right ear. "Turn it up a little, would ya?" she asked innocently, checking her perfectly manicured nails. Sakura groaned and turned it up. Everyone continued to listen to their music for thirty minutes. The only speaking was between Sakura and Ino, who quietly argued over which song to listen to next.

Kurenai watched the scene for a little longer, tapping her foot as if trying to urge them to socialize. "That's it!" she exclaimed, walking forwards to the centre of the bus. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at the fuming camp leader. "One word! I've been waiting for you guys to say **one word** to each other! ANYTHING!" Sakura and Ino raised their hands, but Kurenai shot them down with her eyes. "Now I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands, by forcing you guys to socialize myself." She walked to the front of the bus, and told the first four boys and first four girls to speak to each other. When the boys gave smug remarks about not speaking to people below them, Kurenai popped a vein, and went in to pop one of them. Luckily, Asuma and Kakashi made it in time and grabbed her arms. From then on, each group of eight decided not to protest.

Kurenai approached the four boys quickly. _Oh, please, no!_ Shikamaru thought, looking across from him. If he was correct, like he always was, that meant he and his friends would be paired with the girls. And not just one of them...all_ four_ of them. _This is such a drag, _he whined, rubbing his temples uneasily. _Then again, at least I have all of my friends in my group. It's better than being with that loudmouth all alone, or with only one other friend. _

"You four boys," Kurenai said, pointing to Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto, "and you four girls," she finished, spinning around and pointing to Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata. Ino opened her mouth to socialize, but Sakura yanked the headphones away from her blonde friend to distract her.

"Hey!" Ino exclaimed, snagging it back and placing it in her ear and pouting.

"Now socialize!" Kurenai barked, storming back to the front of the bus where the other camp leaders were lightly chuckling at Kurenai's anger. Everyone sighed in unison and looked at their 'partners'. Nobody knew what the talk to the other gender about, so everyone had a staring contest with the person across from them. Kurenai slapped her forehead and slid her hand down her steaming face. "Don't know what to talk about? How about you tell your new **friends**," everyone flinched at how forcefully she said 'friends', "what song you're listening to? It seems you're all listening to your fancy new iPods at the moment."

A collective sound of sighs was heard again as everyone looked at their group. Hinata took the headphones off and wrapped them around her light blue iPod, thinking it would be rude to listen to music while engaged in a conversation with people you didn't know well. She cleared her throat so signal she was going to speak first. "I was listening to Everytime We Touch by Cascada," she said quietly, but just loud enough for the boys to hear her. "It's my favourite song."

Naruto snorted. "_That_ song?" he spat, looking at her like she was a little girl trying to fit in with her older brother's friends. His insult hit her like a truck. Hinata retreated and began twiddling with her fingers. "I'm listening to Grow Up by Simple Plan." He nudged Neji, who looked up from his black iPod and gave an emotionless look. "What song were you listening to?"

"Hate (I Really Don't Like You) by Plain White T's," he said nonchalantly, swirling his finger around the outer ring to search through his songs.

Tenten pressed the pause button on her green iPod and took one ear piece out. She smiled with interest and said, "All You Wanted by Michelle Branch."

Sasuke took his headphones out and stuffed his navy blue iPod in his pocket. Sakura scoffed at how stuck-up that looked. The way he carelessly shoved it in his pocket made it seem like he didn't care what happened to it, because he could just afford a new one with all of his money. _I hope that guy goes bankrupt one day,_ she inwardly hoped.

"Crawling by Linkin Park," he said simply.

"Be Good To Me by Ashley Tisdale," Sakura said awkwardly. It seemed to her that Sasuke didn't have a good view of his life, and going to camp with someone like him could be, how she put it, interesting. _But the way he acts like he doesn't care, _Sakura continued with her thoughts. _There are so many other people out there that would kill to have even half the amount of money he has. And he flaunts it around! That egotistical little ba---_

"But I'd be listening to Listen To Your Heart by DHT," Ino added in, "if my iPod was working."

"Don't you mean Roxette?" Neji asked.

His friends gave him weird looks, but Neji ignored them. Living with Hinata, he couldn't help but know the titles of some songs his cousin listened to, and who the artists were. "No, I prefer the remix version," Ino answered, smiling. _Wow, he didn't pester me about that. I mean, if it was that Sasuke guy or that Naruto guy, I'm sure they would plague me about getting the artist wrong. Then I could clown __**them**__ for getting it wrong.  
_

Everyone looked at Shikamaru, whose head was hanging past his shoulders. "We know you aren't sleeping," Sasuke stated in a matter-of-fact tone, "so get up and let's finish this conversation."

Shikamaru moaned and looked up lazily. Sure enough, he wasn't sleeping. _And I thought pretending would get them off of my backs, _he sighed. "I _was_ listening to Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day, but _somebody_ ruined it for me."

There was a short moment where everyone---except for Neji and Sasuke---chuckled at the irony of it all; it was summer camp, and he was trying to sleep. (A/N: Yeah, I know, corny joke. So sue me.) "So," Ino said, trying to strike up a conversation, "how are all of you guys rich? I know Neji is because he's from the Hyuuga family. Same thing with Hinata. But how about you?"

"My mom kept nagging my dad to dig a hole to plant a tree in, so he finally did," Shikamaru stated. "But he kept digging past the needed point, and since he was busy cursing my mother, he didn't notice. The next thing he knew, a burst of oil painted his face black. Since we own the property, the oil was ours. It's really stupid, actually, and unbelieveable. I didn't really believe it myself, and I was there watching him."

"My brother is a sports star, and my dad is a famous scientist," Sasuke said icily, with a hint of jealousy flickering in his eyes.

"My family bought out a really old company and made it into the Uzumaki Co.," Naruto said proudly, hitting his chest with his fist. "What about you girls?"

"My mom is a famous model, and my dad is a regular business man," Ino stated, twirling a few strands of her loose blonde hair.

"My mom is a famous professional doctor and my dad is a popular cop," Sakura explained, straightening her plaid skirt.

"My mom is a famous singer and my brother is a genius in computer science," Tenten finished, zipping up her green sweatshirt.

Everyone shifted around. The girls were waiting for one of the guys to think up a topic for once. But it was evident they weren't even putting in an effort when Sasuke pulled his iPod out again, Naruto began bobbing his head up and down wildly to match his loud music, Shikamaru closed his eyes again, and Neji finally found his song and got into a relaxed position. Sakura looked at Tenten, who turned her head over her shoulder and stared blankly out the window. Then her gaze drifted to Hinata, who was quietly choosing another song, then when she found it, resumed playing with her fingers. When her green eyes finally met Ino, she saw the 'I thought of the other topic, so don't expect me to say anything' look. "So, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Sakura blurted out, hating the awkward silence.

The guys all looked irritated and annoyed when they glanced at the pink-haired girl at the same time. _Sorry,_ she thought sarcastically.

"Don't confuse Naruto," Sasuke said smugly, "he can't think that far ahead."

"HEY!" Naruto yelled angrily, causing many people to turn their heads. And they were not pleased with being interupted by a hyperactive blond's yells. "I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO BE!"

"SHUT UP!" a random kid in the bus howled.

"EAT YOUR COUCH!" Naruto yelled back, standing up. Everyone stared at him like he was an idiot, and well, who could blame them? It was an extremely random phrase that was meant to be an insult.

Suddenly, the bus went over a huge bump. Everyone flew up in the air, then plopped back into their seats. Naruto, however, wasn't sitting in his seat, therefore he could not plop back into his seat. Instead, he involuntarily went up to the tips of his toes, threw his hands up, screamed, and fell to the side. His body landed on Neji's knee, and his hands were spread out on Sasuke's lap.

"Watch the bump!" Kurenai scolded seconds after they passed over the bump.

"Gee, thanks for telling me _after_ I went over the bump," Asuma said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and placing a hand on his forehead.

"Put both hands on the steering wheel!" she added.

"Yes, mother."

"Get your _hands_ off of me!" Sasuke barked, swatting Naruto's hands away.

"Get your _body_ off of me," Neji growled, shoving Naruto off. The poor blond fell flat on his back, clutching his stomach. Being kneed in the gut as he fell onto Neji's knee, then being thrown to the ground by his other friend wasn't the best start for a month-long 'vacation' with those same people.

Hinata gasped and bent down. "A-Are you okay?" she asked, trying to help the groaning boy. "Do you need help?"

Naruto merely continued to roll over, moaning and groaning in pain. "Get off of the floor, Naruto," Shikamaru ordered, though his tone showed he wasn't going to do anything about it. "You're embarrassing us."

Immediately, Naruto jumped from the ground, dusted himself off, and took his seat again. Hinata, who was still kneeling on the ground, and the other girls, merely blinked blankly, not understanding him at all. "Uhhhhh," Hinata began, but couldn't find the words to say. Instead, she blushed sheepishly and scurried back to her seat.

Sakura didn't want to bring the same question up again, so she just sat there, waiting for someone else to think up a topic. She and Ino both turned their heads robotically to look at Hinata, who was too busy thinking to herself. Then they looked at Tenten, who more than saw it coming. Tenten grunted uneasily and turned her head to face somewhere else. Sakura and Ino hummed subtly in a taunting manner, causing Tenten to sweat. "So," she said finally, causing Sakura and Ino to smile victoriously, "what's your favourite colour?"

Sakura and Ino smacked their heads at Tenten's pathetic attempt to arouse a conversation. All of the guys could see the girls were getting desperate with topics. "You don't have to engage us in a conversation, you know," Shikamaru stated, obviously irritated at the constant questions.

Tenten 'hmmm'ed and shot a glare at the two girls who laughed nervously and acted innocent. Everyone turned their iPods on again and began listening to their favourite songs. Soon enough, they were joined in the ceremony of praising music for another thirty minutes, until Kurenai stepped to the centre of the bus again.

"Okay everyone, we're almost there. We'll be there in two minutes, give or take," she said in a strict voice. "As you exit the bus, I'm going to give you your cabin numbers. Your bags will be handed to you by Anko. Tell her your cabin number, and she'll tell you which way it is. And let me get this straight: no switching cabins with anyone!"

A collective amount of groans were heard from the teenagers as they looked at their best friends and began chatting animatedly. "Shut up, you buggers," Asuma yelled from the driver's seat.

All of the adults raised an eyebrow and looked at him. Even Kakashi looked up from his book. "Buggers?" Kakashi repeated.

Asuma shrugged. "It's a new word I'm trying out." Silence. Asuma sighed and slammed his foot on the breaks. "We're here!"

After everyone recovered from the rough stop, they stood up and began talking loudly. Asuma shook his head with disappointment. "Why, in my day---"

"Asuma," Iruka interupted, "you're only twenty-eight. Your day wasn't that long ago."

"Easy for you to say," Asuma muttered, standing up from his seat, "you're the youngest out of all of us at twenty-three. I'm the oldest."

Gai wiped non-existent tears from his eyes and sniffed. "You are more youthful than all of us, Iruka."

"I thought age didn't matter," Kurenai said, recalling what Gai told them before.

"You're just saying that because you're as old as Gai," Kakashi muttered, walking off the bus.

Unfortunately for him, Kurenai grabbed his collar and dragged him backwards, choking him. "You're only one year younger than me, Kakashi. Enjoy being twenty-six while it lasts."

"Erm, Kurenai?" one of the teenagers called. (A/N: Notice I didn't add the 'sensei' in the end. That's because Kakashi, Kurenai, Anko, etc. aren't their teachers in this story.) "What's my cabin number?"

Kurenai blinked a few times, then sheepishly let go of Kakashi's shirt, allowing him to dash out. "Oh," she laughed nervously, "what's your name?"

"Aya Omeshimono," she said shrilly, placing her hands on her hips. "My parents are the owners of the Omekora Clothing Store. It's one of the most popular brands in the world!" Then she seemed to scan Kurenai's clothing choice and frowned. "Not that you would know, seeing that cheap outfit," she added in.

Kurenai grinned and gritted her teeth. "Cabin number one," she said stiffly, moving so the girl would walk out. "Next."

Aya briskly walked past Kurenai and stepped off of the bus. "Chie Mano," the next girl said, watching after Aya like she was a God. "I'll have cabin one, please."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "That's nice," she scoffed, "but I decide who goes in which cabin."

Chie looked as though she was going to burst into tears when she heard that. It was as though Kurenai told the young girl that her parents both died and took their money with them. "B-But I'll give you cabin one anyways!" Kurenai said, as if finishing the statement. "So, you can go along with your friend Aya!"

Chie's bright smile returned to her face as she exclaimed a 'thanks' and skipped out to retrieve her bags. As the line advanced, the girls began to feel nervous, wondering if they would be put together or not. Suddenly, a lightbulb lit up in Ino's head. "Hinata," she whispered, "I want you to put on your innocent act."

"It's not an act, Ino," Tenten stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "That's just the way Hinata is."

"Okay," Ino continued. "So I'll go first, and get my cabin number. Then Hinata will go second, and if she gets another cabin number, then she'll act really down, but don't seem like you're trying to suck up or anything. After that, Sakura will go. She'll say that everyone will tease her because of that giant forehead."

"Hey!" Sakura exclaimed, offended.

Ino ignored her. "Then last is Tenten. You say that you thought the trip was one week, not one month. And I'll say that I have extra clothing, so she'll have to put us in the same cabin! Got it?"

The three other girls nodded, just in time to receive their cabins. "You four," Kurenai said, looking down at her list, "are you Hinata Hyuuga, Sakura Haruno, Tenten Irikuchi, and Ino Yamanaka?" _They seem to match the description I received from their parents._

"Y-Yes," Hinata said quietly, clasping her hands together behind her.

Kurenai looked up from the paper and smiled. "You four are in the same cabin, number three. Your parents requested that you were placed together. Is that okay?"

Ino's jaw dropped. "Bu-But...I thought up a foolproof plan! N-No!"

Tenten smirked and ignored her blabbering friend. "Thank you, Kurenai," she said, walking out the bus. Sakura and Hinata strode past Ino as well, who regained her composure and followed them out.

The four boys stared at the girls with interest. "Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke introduced, "and I'd be happy if my friends and I were in the same cabin." He gestured to Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto, who nodded at the woman. "Please," he added stiffly, seeing the doubtful expression on Kurenai's face.

After a moment of reconsidering, Kurenai seemed to give in. "Okay, but no spreading around that I let you guys choose." They all nodded. "Cabin four."

"Thanks a lot!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping out of the bus.

The boys exited the bus just in time to see the girls attempting to drag their bags to their cabin. All four of them seemed to be moving to the right, to one of the two cabins that were only a few meters away from each other. "Cabin three is the one on the left," Sakura grunted after squinting at the number on the cabin. "Oh man," she whined, glancing down at her bags. They were covered with dirt at the bottom.

"All of our bags are getting dirty, Sakura," Tenten stated, looking down at her bags as well. "But we're almost there." All four girls looked up to see the cabin less than five meters away. Tenten slung her bags over her back, causing her knees to buckle slightly. Her friends followed her actions. "I'm going to fall," she grunted under the weight, feeling herself slowly sinking. Suddenly, she felt more than half the weight removed from her back.

Ino, Sakura, and Hinata also felt a lot of the weight being taken off. _Oh no!_ Hinata thought, panicked. _I must have dropped some of my bags!_ She spun around a little too quickly, causing more of her bags to fly off of her back.

"Owww!"

Hinata opened her eyes to see Naruto, rubbing the area around his left eyebrow. All of her bags were now scattered on the floor. "I-I I'm so sorry!" Hinata apologized, her eyes widening. _It's the same boy that was hurt on the bus! Naruto!_ "I didn't know you were there!"

"Smooth move, stupid," Sasuke teased, propping a bag onto his shoulder.

Sakura looked at the boy carrying her bags. "You didn't have to go out of your way to help," she said.

"But we appreciate it anyways!" Ino added, dropping all of her bags to the floor, then plopping next to them. "I didn't know I brought so much stuff."

Shikamaru looked at the bags on the ground, as if saying, 'do you expect me to pick those up?' "We aren't going out of our way," he said, picking up a bag with each hand. "Our cabin is number four; it's the one right next to yours."

"I see," Tenten sighed tiredly, moving her neck. It made cracking noises, which caused Ino to slap her hands onto her ears and let out a low growl.

"I hate it when you do that!" Ino snapped.

"I can't help it!" Tenten insisted, cracking it once more.

Hinata, who finally regained herself, looked around. "Where are your bags?" she asked.

Ino, Sakura, and Tenten looked around, and sure enough, there were no bags that didn't belong to them. "You guys took so long to get to your cabins," Neji said emotionlessly. "We already finished dropping our bags off, and saw you guys struggling outside our window."

"And to think we thought you girls could handle yourselves," Sasuke said with disappointment, his ego increasing with each expression Sakura was feeding him. "You can't even carry your bags. You're lucky we helped you, though. We, unlike you girls, have pride and dignity."

_That jerk!_ Sakura had just about enough of Sasuke's ranting. She brought her leg up and kicked him where the sun never dares to shine. Sasuke let out a high-pitched shriek and he fell to the ground, rolling around and moaning in pain. "Hmph!" was the last thing Sakura said before picking up her bags and stomping off to the cabin. Ino and Tenten snorted as they followed their pink haired friend's actions, but Hinata gave Sasuke an empathetic, picked up her bags, and followed everyone else.

Sasuke now sat up, still pained from the literal low blow. Naruto bent down and elbowed Sasuke's shoulder in a ridiculing manner. "You've still got your pride," he said, trying to stop himself from bursting out in laughter, "but your dignity is gone." Unable to contain it anymore, Naruto bursted out laughing, clutching his stomach as he tried to maintain his balance while squatting down.

Sasuke couldn't retort.

Neji and Shikamaru gave Sasuke sympathetic looks. However, although the four boys wouldn't admit it at the moment, the girls had really peaked their interest. _This is going to be one interesting month,_ they all thought, staring at Hinata, who was behind all of them. After she got in the cabin, she shut the door slowly, and secured the locks.

* * *

Okay, that's the end of this chapter. Omekora doesn't mean anything, by the way. I just made it up. I hope you like this chapter. 


	3. Rivalries Form

Thanks to:

**Melantha A**., **niwichan2468**, **Jomai**, **Kat Whaat**, and **Autumn's Snow** for reviewing for chapter one!

**IS2Pandas**, **shafo13**, **MistressOfWeaponaryAndMrLonely**, and **Shadowform** for reviewing for chapter two!

And a special thanks to:

**ino-chanlove**, **LittleFoxCub**, **tomboy14**, and **everyday-snowangel** for reviewing for both chapters!

This story already has 12 favourites and 17 story alerts! This is more successful than my other story was when it was on chapter three!

* * *

Clothes began flying everywhere, _literally_. Hinata, who was unpacking her bags, stood up. "Ummm, S-Sakura, are you---" Before she could finish her sentence, a pink bikini top and a pair of white socks came in contact with her face. They fell to the ground, and Hinata picked them up. "S-Sakura, I think you're---" Suddenly, the bottom of the bikini smacked Hinata in the face.

"That egotistical, full of himself, greedy bastard!" Sakura raved, continuing to throw her clothing wildly in the air. "He makes the worst come out in everybody! He's so...provocative! That repugnant dweeb!"

Ino sighed and rubbed her temples. "Sakura, just calm down! They're just in the cabin next to us. We don't have to associate with them at all during camp."

"Dweeb?" Tenten repeated jokingly. "I can't believe you called him a d---"

Smack! Sakura's large flower-patterned bag made swift contact with Tenten's face, causing her to fall back onto the solid wooden floor. "Holy sh---"

"Language!" Ino replied tauntingly, waving a finger back and forth in front of Tenten's face.

Hinata dug through her sweatshirt pockets and found the piece of paper Anko handed to her when she and her friends retrieved their bags. "According to this note Anko gave me," she said, scanning the paper, "we have to meet at the main cabin when we're done unpacking. It says to bring one notebook and a pen per person to take notes and write down what events we're interested in. But there are some activities that are mandatory to attend." She folded up the note again and placed it in her pocket.

"Okay!" Ino exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air. "Let's unpack quickly, get our stuff, and zip outta here!"

"Right," Hinata, Tenten, and Sakura said at the same time.

The friends quickly brought their bags to their rooms and unpacked. They stuffed their clothing in the drawers that were already in the rooms. Suddenly, they heard a loud, bloodcurdling scream coming from Tenten's room. Her friends quickly rushed to Tenten's room to see her perched on the footboard of her bed. "What is it?" Hinata asked, staring at her paled friend.

"S-S-Sp-Spider!" Tenten stuttered, pointing to an abnormally large, hairy spider that was slowly marching on the green rug. Tenten fell back onto the bed with fear and creeped so her back slammed on the headboard of her bed.

Sakura giggled and walked over to the spider. She picked it up gently, causing Tenten to shriek with fear, and let it out the open window. "You're going to have to get over your fear of spiders, Tenten," she said in a light tone.

"I can't," Tenten said stiffly, searching through her bag for a notebook and pen. "Spiders are so...so creepy. I hate them! I don't know how you can touch one like that with your bare hands." She finally tossed her notebook and pen on her bed. It had a cartoon panda that had the phrase, "Live, Love, Laugh" printed on. "And I'll get over my fear of spiders when you get over your fear of snakes."

"No way!" Sakura said firmly, slightly flinching at the thought of a snake near her. "You know I have severe ophidiophobia."

Her friends nodded. "I remember when Rokku played a prank on you in the sixth grade," Hinata reminisced, resisting so hard not to begin forming fists with both of her hands. "You were screaming, and crying, and you blacked out. Tenten beat him up, and Ino made him a social outcast. I would have done something to help, but I didn't want to hurt anybody..." Sakura shook her head with disappointment.

"Let's go get our notebooks and pens," Ino said as she walked towards the door. Sakura and Hinata nodded. They followed her out, and they split up to head to their own rooms.

A few minutes later, they met up at the front door with objects in hand. Ino had an orange notebook with a majestic light blue fairy playing the harp. Her wings, although still, looked as though they could flap at any time. Sakura had a light green notebook with randomly placed golden hearts that looked as though they were being blown around in the wind. Hinata's notebook was black with what looked like pink, purple, and silver paint splatters everywhere. Her first and last name, as well as her friends' full names were written along the bottom, and their signatures were signed randomly. There were white clouds near the top, and a thick ray of yellow sunlight broke through them.

"I remember that!" Tenten exclaimed, pointing to Hinata's notebook. "We painted that in the fifth grade!"

"Yeah," Sakura squealed, "that was almost five years ago! Hinata, you were so good at art in grade five!"

"And you still are," Ino added in.

Hinata beamed and glanced over the book. Although everything was painted in grade five, and the names along the bottom were as well, they had added in their signatures in the seventh grade. "What can I say?" she asked, blushing lightly from the praise. "Art classes really paid off."

The girls laughed together, until there was knocking at their door. Tenten opened it to see Neji standing on the porch, with his friends in the background. "You might want to leave now to get to the main cabin before Anko comes and finds you. From the sounds of it, I don't think any of you enjoy the concept of rolling in mud much," he said, refering to their shouts of detest on the bus. He smirked at the priceless look on Tenten's face.

"I don't mind rolling in mud!" she exclaimed shrilly. "It's just... I just have enough clothing, maybe a few extra tops and pants, but if I," Tenten started to feel the heat rising to her cheeks, and Neji obviously saw it, "...uhhhh...if I dirty---would you stop giving me that look?" She furrowed her eyebrows and pushed the prodigy aside, briskly making her way to the main cabin.

Neji turned around and watched her stomp away. "She's totally head-over-heels in love with you," Sasuke chuckled, turning around to follow her. Naruto and Shikamaru snorted, as Neji joined them and they began to walk towards the main cabin.

Ino snorted. "Please," she said, sounding confident, "Tenten would never fall for a guy like him."

Sakura and Hinata nodded as all three of them raced after their friend. The main cabin wasn't that far from their cabin, but it was a good distance away for privacy. "Not like we can get any privacy anyways," Sakura scoffed, "since we're staying next that---"

"Dweeb," Tenten finished. She kept a serious face, but Sakura could sense the mocking tone. "Whoops, it slipped."

"I swear if that tongue of yours slips one more time, little missy, I'm gonna chop it off," Sakura said in a warning tone, playfully punching Tenten's shoulder.

Hinata shoved her hands in her pockets and began playing around with a few pieces of loose lint uncomfortably when she saw Naruto speaking with another girl. The two of them were standing on the large porch of the main cabin. Naruto was talking to her, and the girl was giggling flirtatiously. "Oh, Naruto," she exclaimed, gently pushing his shoulder, "you're so funny!"

Hinata frowned. The girl was very pretty. She gazed at Naruto with admiring light blue eyes as she twirled a few strands of green hair, nodding occasionally. From what Hinata remembered, she was that Aya Omeshimono girl. "Hey, Hinata!" Naruto called from the porch. He stopped speaking to Aya, who looked less than content, and began waving energetically.

Ino nudged the shy girl. "Looks like _somebody's_ crushing!" she sang. "Go talk to him!"

Hinata nodded vigorously and began running towards Naruto. It was a perfect romantic moment, just the way Ino had described it. That was until something was in Hinata's way. All of it happened in slow motion. Hinata felt herself slowly losing her balance. She reached her hand out, hoping to be able to grab onto something, but there was nothing there. Everything after that occured in regular speed. Her whole body crashed onto the ground.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled, running towards her.

Aya snickered quietly, turning into the cabin. Tenten winced at the sight; Ino could barely look at it; Sakura gasped. Naruto bent down and stuck his hand out. "Hinata, let me help you up! Are you okay?"

Hinata turned as red as a tomato. More than anything, she wanted to stay in that position. As embarrassing as it was, the damage was done. The poor girl just wanted to hide her face from Naruto. Showing her face would only make matters worse. But, alas, she had to take his hand. What would she say? "No, I want to keep my face buried in the mud." That wouldn't work. Hinata lifted her face from the ground and gently took Naruto's hand. It was sweaty from the heat, but at that moment, Hinata didn't care. It was _his_ hand. Naruto Uzumaki was lending _his_ hand to _her_, Hinata Hyuuga. "T-Thank you," she whispered as he helped her up.

"No problem!" he responded, flashing a toothy grin. She dusted off her long skirt, trying not to look into his eyes.

"Hinata!" Ino shrieked, jumping at her friend. "Oh my gosh, are you okay? I saw everything! That little bitch tripped you." She gestured over to a girl with long, blood red hair and onyx eyes.

"If memory serves," Sakura continued, "she's Chie Mano. That little wanna-be Aya. Do you want us to get her back for you?"

Hinata shook her head. She felt the redness slowly disappearing from her face. "No, I don't want to cause any trouble."

Tenten tugged at her bangs and growled, but decided not to comment on the situation. "Let's just get to the cabin." She turned to Naruto and smiled. "Thanks a lot for helping Hinata out there. You two should walk together to the cabin."

"Yeah, good idea!" Sakura supported.

Hinata blushed lightly as Naruto took her hand, and the two slowly walked together. "Why did you let them walk together for such a short distance? Nothing will spark!" Ino cried, dramatically throwing her face into her hands and pretending to cry. "I thought I taught you well, Miss Irikuchi! How could you betray me like that!"

"Doesn't matter," Tenten responded simply. "Hinata will still like it anyways."

A few meters ahead, Naruto and Hinata were carrying on a lively conversation. Well, Naruto's half was lively, while Hinata spoke softly. "Did you have anything planned this summer?" Naruto asked excitedly. "I was planning to go to Disneyland, but my parents dragged me to this camp. Something about getting on their nerves."

"Oh, well, I didn't have anything planned."

Naruto nodded. "Awesome! Well, I hope we get to be really good friends. You seem really nice! Unlike that Sas-gay, lazyass Shikamaru, or know-it-all Neji." Then his mouth formed a straight line of seriousness, still looking forwards. "You know, I haven't had many friends that are girls. I mean, there are the girls that go to my school, but they always oggle over my friends and I, not bothering to get to know who we really are. It's really annoying."

Hinata nodded as well. But before she could give her opinion, Naruto blurted, "Here's the cabin!"

Sakura, Ino, and Tenten caught up with the 'couple' as well, and the five of them opened the door. "Hey, Naruto," Shikamaru called as Naruto joined he, Sasuke, and Neji, "what are you doing with those girls?"

Ino frowned. "What's wrong with walking with us?" she huffed, taking a step forwards.

"Nothing," the lazy boy replied simply. "I've always known Naruto's standards to be set quite low."

Ino clenched her fists. "Why you---"

"Woah," Sasuke interupted, stepping forwards, "don't anger the banshee, Shikamaru. I hear her screams are a sign of death."

"I see you've found _your_ voice and recovered," Sakura said contently. Then her gaze drifted down and she smirked. "It looks like it got smaller, if that's even possible." (A/N: I seriously had to put that there. My inner self was yelling at me, ordering me to write that XD)

"Oooooo," Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto chanted in unison.

"Are you going to take that from a girl?" Naruto asked tauntingly.

But Neji shook his head with disapproval. "It's impolite to hit a girl, Sasuke."

Tenten smirked then directed her attention to her nails. "Then I guess we shouldn't hit you, hm?"

"What was that?" Neji growled.

"Is that long brown hair blocking your ears?" Tenten asked nonchalantly, looking straight at him with innocence. "It looks so lustrous and thick. I swear I saw hair just like that for the Herbal Essence commercial. What do you use to keep it so silky? Herbal Essence Body Envy? Or the Hello Hydration version? If you need an extra bottle, you can always ask me or my friends. We use those as well."

"You're gonna regret you ever said that to me," Neji said in a dangerous tone, arching his eyebrows.

Suddenly Hinata stepped forwards. "Please, stop fighting before something serious happens," she said, trying to keep her voice strong. "Can't we just be friends?"

Naruto stepped forwards commandingly as well. "Yeah, Hinata's right."

"Protecting your girlfriend?" Sasuke inquired, crossing his arms.

Naruto looked at Sasuke with disgust. "Me and Hinata?" He made a raspberry and wrinkled his nose. "No way! Are you stoned or something?"

Tenten, Sakura, and Ino's eyes darted to Hinata, who seemed to be smiling as though nothing happened. But they knew her heart just cracked. She stood there, motionless. Her light breathing became quiet like the gentle breeze outside. "Are you okay?" Sakura whispered so only Hinata could hear.

Hinata nodded, keeping the same smile. "Yeah," she whispered back, her voice cracking slightly. "It isn't like Naruto is the first boy to not like me back." Her sentence lingered in the air.

"You dumbass," Ino shrieked at Naruto.

Hinata quickly grabbed Ino's hand and pulled her back. "Don't say anything about it!" she pleaded. Though Ino wanted to badly beat Naruto up, she sighed, nodded, and calmed out.

"Hey, don't call me that!" Naruto exclaimed.

"She has every right to!" Tenten yelled back.

"Yeah!" Sakura exclaimed in agreement.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as another insult came to his mind. "Is that all you can do, pinky? Agree with the insults your friends set up?" He sauntered up to her and held a strand of her pink hair. "Wow, you paid a lot of attention with dying your hair pink."

"I didn't dye it!" she scoffed, stepping back. "I was born with pink hair."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow with interest. "Oh, that must be true. I heard aliens have obviously bizarre traits. I don't think I've ever met someone from earth with pink hair."

"Well at least my hair doesn't look like a chicken's ass!" Sakura retorted, pursing her lips. "Is that a good enough comeback for you?"

Shikamaru smirked. "It does look like a chicken's butt," he stated.

"Like you're one to talk," Ino said, looking at Shikamaru's hair. "Your hair looks like a pineapple."

"Spoiled princess," he muttered under his breath.

"Lazyass!" Ino retaliated.

"Snob."

"Bastard!"

"Fashion slave!"

"You couldn't get a girl if your life depended on it!"

"You probably already had your share of guys with that skirt of yours!"

Ino huffed, steam rushing out of her ears. "Are you saying I'm slutty?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and turned around. "You're so troublesome."

POW! The next thing Shikamaru knew, there was incredible pain at the back of his head as he flew through the air, heading straight for the wall. "Don't ever call me troublesome again! You guys are the biggest jerks on the planet!" With that, Ino stomped towards the group gathering around the volunteers.

"Wow, that chick is tough!" one guy whispered loudly to his friend. "I'm so gonna try and pick her up!"

Sakura frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "Can't wait to speak again. 

Tenten shoved her hands in her pockets. "You guys had better watch your backs."

Tenten and Sakura simultaneously stuck their tongues out at Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto, then ran after Ino. Hinata stood there, preparing herself for a life-changing moment. _This is my chance! I'm going to try and insult them! _She took a deep breath in, then said, "Y-You guys deserve whatever happens to you at this camp!" It wasn't the insult she was looking for. Actually, she had no idea what it meant. However, if Tenten warned them to watch their backs, she was obviously planning something. She scurried off before any of the boys could make fun at her attempt to insult them.

Tenten, Sakura, and Ino, who were watching from a distance, gave disappointed looks. "It isn't the best insult," Ino started. 

"But we'll definitely get them back," Tenten finished.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto all walked towards Shikamaru, who was rubbing his head. "You know you like that short skirt," was all Naruto said to receive a whack on the head.

* * *

I intended this chapter to be longer, but I'll just make the next one longer. Review! If you have any suggestions of my writing style, please tell me.  
Also, do you guys want Choji, Kiba, and Lee to show up in this story? They won't have a big part, but do you want them to? They'll be like side friends.  
And how about the sand siblings? I might make them appear as well. Opinions? 


	4. Oh Great, More People

**NOTE;;** By the way, the camp starts on July 1st and the last day is on July 31st. I forgot to mention that. Right now, it's July 2nd (monday) in the story. The year is 2007.

Thanks to:

**LittleFoxClub**, **WeHoldTheseTruths**, **-ShikaIno-Lover-4Ever-**, **Melantha A. **, **niwichan2468**, **IS2Pandas**, **shafo13**, **Mrs. Nara Ino**, **imissmycupcake**, **AniMeViEtGrl**, **Mind Walking Rabid Squirrel**, **everyday-snowangel**, **tomboy14**, and **scotty-lover **for reviewing!

On with the next chapter! YOSH!

* * *

Ino plopped down on the couch beside Sakura. Tenten and Hinata sat on the arm rests on each side since they all wanted to be together. A few chairs and couches away, they saw the boys in the same formation. Shikamaru and Naruto sat on the couch, while the two prodigies sat on either side. Soon, all chairs, couches, and even floor space near the camp leaders was swallowed by the sea of teens. "Okay people," Kurenai said, stepping forwards from the line of adults, "first off, Kakashi'll tell you what events you have to attend. After that will be what you can join. Asuma and I---" a few whistles from Anko and Kakashi were heard, "---shut up!" Kurenai hissed over her shoulder. "Asuma and I---" there were a few childish giggles from the same two people, but Kurenai ignored it, "---will tell you the sports. Gai will list other activities. Anko will list things happening outside of the camp, but near enough that we'll let you attend. Finally, Iruka will tell you the daily schedule."

Kurenai stepped back and Kakashi stepped forwards with a bored expression on his face. He brought up a long, white list and cleared his throat. "Okay, listen up guys. If you don't attend these events, you'll be in big trouble. We're putting in a lot of effort----"

"You mean _we, _as in not including you," Iruka cut in, frowning.

"Right," Kakashi corrected, "they put in a lot of effort to plan this, so you'd better not get them pissed." Kakashi gestured to Anko, who was cracking her knuckles and laughing maniacally. Everyone slowly laughed and backed away, pushing the furniture with them. To the boys' dismay, they were now almost right next to the girls at the half-way point of the room. "Anyways, here they are." He walked up to the chalkboard, twirled a piece of chalk around in his hand, causing a few girls to swoon, and began writing dates down.

July Fourth - Hike

July Eleventh - Get together with the other camp

July Seventeenth - Dance

July Twenty-sixth - The Play

July Twenty-eight - Talent Show

July Thirtieth - Goodbye Dinner

Everyone grabbed their pens and neatly or roughly wrote the events in their notebooks. "Any questions?" Kakashi asked, dropping the chalk next to the chalkboard brush.

Naruto stuck his hand up, but didn't wait to be called on. "Why do we have to go to the dance?"

Sakura scoffed. "That sounds like something someone would say if they couldn't get a date."

"And you could?" Sasuke inquired in a fake-shocked tone.

"I'll have you know---"

Kakashi cleared his throat to interupt Sakura. "You have to go because we said so. And that leads me to our second question: You will not have to bring dates to the dance, however, you can if you wish. You will have to bring dates to the dinner, though."

The guys whooped and cheered. If they had to bring dates to a dinner---some boys exchanged winks at this---then girls would have to ask them. As Ron Weasley once said, 'It's pitiful if a guy doesn't have a date. But a girl? That's just sad.' (A/N: He said that in the fourth movie to Hermione. I can't remember the exact words...-sweatdrop-) Ino tapped Tenten, and the brunette leaned back so Ino could whisper in her ear. "That's the only way some of them could get dates anyways." She gestured to their 'rivals', who were staring back at them.

Tenten laughed loudly, but quickly covered her mouth when she saw the suspicious looks on their four faces.

"What is she laughing at?" Shikamaru asked, carefully eyeing the giggling Ino.

Neji shrugged lightly. "Try and seduce it out of her later on," Sasuke suggested to the white-eyed boy, smirking at Neji's scowl.

"Oh yeah," Kakashi added, "everyone needs to perform at the talent show. It could be a song you and your friends perform, dance routine, or a song by yourself. Whatever your talent is." Everyone groaned.

"Oh, and about the play," Kakashi said, looking at the board. It seemed as though he didn't prepare very well, since he kept remembering things at the last minute. "Everyone has to try out. Next monday we'll tell you what the play is about, and give the list of characters. Choose who you want to try out to be, or you could just try out for any part if you really don't care." Kakashi rubbed his right eye and stepped back.

Kurenai stepped forwards and quietly ordered Asuma to clean the boards. After he did, he stepped beside Kurenai. "Okay, here are the sports you can join," Kurenai said, taking her list out. She walked over to the chalkboard and picked up a piece of chalk.

Archery:

Wednesdays at 6:30-7:30 am

Fridays at 8:00-9:00 pm

Soccer:

Mondays and Thursdays at 3:00-4:00 pm

Volleyball:

Tuesdays at 10:45-11:45 am

Saturdays at 3:00-4:00 pm

Badminton:

Sundays at 5:00-6:00 pm

Thursdays at 4:15-5:15 pm

Tennis:

Sundays at 5:15-6:15 pm

Mondays at 4:00-5:00 pm

Basketball:

Tuesdays at 8:00-9:00 pm

Fridays at 6:00-7:00 am

Free Swimming:

Mondays at 4:30-5:30 pm

Wednesdays at 1:30-2:30 pm

Fridays at 8:00-9:00 pm

Tenten began rapidly scribbling the sports down, not paying attention to the ones that conflicted with other ones. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata wrote a few down, not seeming as interested as their friend. Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto wrote a few of them down, while Shikamaru wrote the two that didn't have a lot of movement.

"These sports will be starting today," Asuma said, glancing at his small paper that was the size of a sticky note. _I should have listened to Kurenai when she said to prepare everything instead of waiting five minutes before these kids came. _"The lists for each sport will be posted on the bulletin board right over there." He gestured to the large board, where the sign-up sheets were already pinned. "There are limited slots for each sport, so sign up early."

"These are co-ed sports, so boys," Kurenai glanced over to the boys, who gathered on one half of the room. Before she could continue, Anko stepped forward.

"Be prepared to have your asses handed to you on a silver platter," she interupted. Anko gave a thumbs down and grinned widely at the disbelieving looks on the boys' faces.

"You really think we're gonna get beaten by girls?" Naruto spoke up, looking at the girls on the other half of the room like they were trash. "Honestly, we're stronger than those girly girls."

Tenten raised her hand professionally and frowned with disappointment. Kurenai scoffed at Anko's comment and smiled at Tenten. "Yes?"

Tenten looked as though she was extremely sad and worried. "But Kurenai, I don't want to cause any trouble."

Kurenai's smile grew larger. "Well, that's very nice of you." Then she shot Anko a glare, who stuck her tongue out. "At least some of you are mature."

Tenten grinned widely and continued, "I don't think those pansies have the balls to take us on anyways!"

"That's not true, Tenten," Sakura said, trying to contain her laughter. "We all know Sasuke has the balls, as long as you look closely!"

Ino, Sakura, and Tenten roared with laughter, and were joined by some of the other girls there. Even Naruto joined them, earning a punch to the head by Sasuke. Hinata saw the embarrassed look on Sasuke's face and pitied him. "I don't think you should have said that," she said softly.

Anko howled and pointed at Sasuke. "Are you gonna take that from them?" she asked between laughs.

"Anko!" Kurenai shrieked. "We are not promoting violence here."

Gai stepped forward and broke the fight between Sasuke and Sakura. "I am going to tell you the other activities that do not include sports."

"GO GAI!" a kid in the audience yelled.

"Thank you!" Gai exclaimed, taking a bow. His teeth pinged and shone brightly again, causing almost everyone to turn away and shield their eyes. There was only one boy who didn't look as scared, because he wore sunglasses. But the light seemed to be too much, even for him, because Shikamaru caught the boy covering his eyes without looking away.

Gai walked towards the board and erased everything. "Okay, here are the activities!"

Arts & Crafts:

Mondays and Fridays at 10:45-11:45 am

Singing:

Tuesdays at 6:00--7:00 am

Thursdays at 3:00-4:00 pm

Band Instruments:

Wednesdays at 4:45-5:45 pm

Sundays at 1:30-2:30 pm

Dancing:

Saturdays at 9:45-10:45 am

Sundays at 10:00-11:00 am

Hinata was now the one writing all of them down. Sakura and Ino wrote down half of them, and Tenten wrote one. Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru wrote down one, while Naruto wrote down two. "Dancing?" Shikamaru asked, glancing at Naruto's list.

"Girls dancing in tight fitting clothing?" Naruto asked as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Haven't you seen those dancing shows? They might be wearing those short skirts and tight shirts that show off the bust!" He thrusted his chest forwards and grinned. (A/N: I'm thinking of _Dancing with the Stars_... you know that TV show? Well, Naruto is hoping the girls will wear something like that.) "And we might be able to pick them up!"

Shikamaru, Neji, and Sasuke, the smarter ones in their small group, thought of what Naruto just said. "And you guys say I'm stupid."

_He's got a point,_ the three of them thought at the same time.

Sheepishly, Neji and Sasuke wrote dancing down as well, just in case. Shikamaru decided against it, not really caring about seeing that. The thought of dancing men in spandex (Gai's spandex he wore at the moment scared him enough) told him not to sign up.

Gai's teeth pinged once more, then he stepped away from the board. "I hope all of you will join at least one activity!"

Anko abruptly stepped forwards and pushed Gai to the side. "Okay people, here are the extra places. I assure you they're worth going to, however, there are some days we won't allow you to go."

Club Red:

Open every second friday, saturday, and sunday night. Starts at 8:00 until whatever time you want to go home.

Associating with the other camp:

Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.

Sunnyshore Mall:

Open everyday from 10:00 am-7:00 pm.

Ino suddenly burst out with happiness. "THE MALL? THERE'S A MALL?"

"Are you deaf or stupid?" Shikamaru snorted.

Ino shot back a horrifying glare, but was unable to come up with an insult. She mumbled something along the lines of 'stupid boy' and 'so isn't cute'.

Chie raised her hand and pointed to the board when Anko called on her. "Why are there stars next to all of them?"

Anko smiled and winked. "That's because there are certain catches." Everyone groaned. "I know, I know, it sucks. Anyways, first I'll talk about the club. Even though Club Red is open those nights and that late, _they_ want you to follow stricter rules," she snarled, subtly giving them a dirty look. "You'll have to be back earlier, as Iruka will explain later. Also, you aren't allowed to the club on Sundays, because, well, there's something special each monday that you can't miss."

"Now on with the camp. You're allowed to associate with them on any of those days, as long as you ask one of us for permission. If you're going to have meals there, you need our permission as well as the other camp's permission. There are some days _they_," she gestured to the other adults, "won't let you go because of certain events, blah blah blah. But if you ask me---"

"Anko," Kakashi said in a warning tone, "if you let them go any time they want, we could _all_ get in trouble."

Anko muttered a few curses and continued, "Whatever, as long as I'm the fun adult. The camp is just down the trail outside of the main cabin. It's closer to cabins three and four, if you know where those are." The eight rivals recalled the trail behind their cabins and nodded. "Anywho, on to the mall. Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to go to the mall everyday either. You can go on saturdays, sundays, and thursday and friday nights. There's a bus that takes you down there. The stop is just outside of the campus. You should be able to see it."

Iruka finally stepped forwards. He didn't look to happy with what he was about to announce, and had the paranoid look on his face. It was as if he was expecting people to pelt him with rotten tomatos, or worse...ripe tomatos. Oh yeah, a good ol' smack in the face with a ripe tomato (which will explode and spread) will do someone good. "Every monday, there will be a meeting after breakfast from 9:10-10:10 so we can explain things," he began, his voice a little shaky. "Breakfast is at eight o'clock sharp until nine o'clock. Lunch is at twelve sharp until one. Dinner is at six o'clock until seven o'clock. Finally, bedtime---" Dramatic music began playing in the background. Literally. Iruka whipped around and saw Anko, who was snickering and playing around with the CD player.

"Sorry," she laughed, pushing the off button. "Continue, Iruka."

Iruka cleared his throat and pulled on his collar. _I hope Kakashi confiscated all of the heavy objects like he promised to. I don't want a re-run of last year when some kid thought it would be funny to throw a bowling ball at me._ He looked over at Kakashi, who gave a thumbs up. Iruka nodded and smiled. _I knew he wouldn't let me down!_

Suddenly, Kakashi realized why Iruka looked at him. _Oops... I guess I should have checked to make sure the kids don't have anything that could seriously hit Iruka. Meh, oh well. I'll do it next year._

Iruka cleared his throat. "Bedtime is at 10 o'clock s-sharp. Lights must be out at that time. We will be patrolling around the cabins to make sure every light is out by then."

Screams of protests came from the girls sides, and the boys were shouting and throwing conveniently placed fruits. Lucky for Iruka, there were no ripe tomatos. But, there was a bowling ball that headed straight for Iruka. As it made contact with his face, Iruka realized it was the exact same bowling ball as last years. "H-Hey!" he exclaimed, pointing to the snickering boy. "You're that same boy from last year!"

"Yeah, s'right, Iruka!" the boy laughed. The rest of the boys snickered at Iruka, who looked dizzy, and fell to the ground. The whole cabin erupted in laughter, with the boy's dog barking in the background.

Kurenai shook her head. "The things children laugh at these days!"

But it wasn't long before---guess who---Anko burst out laughing as well. "You're so immature, Anko," Kurenai muttered.

"QUIET DOWN!" a booming voice demanded, echoing throughout the hallway. Everyone automatically stopped laughing, and their heads robotically turned to face the hall.

A blonde woman, who looked like she was around her twenties or early thirties stepped out. Her hair was loose at the front with two low pigtails at the back. She surveyed the group with her hazel eyes and smirked as though someone told a joke.

Tenten, Ino, Sakura, Hinata, Neji, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sasuke were now the only boys and girls that were close to each other. And in that order, they all formed a sentence together.

"Oh."

"My."

"Freaking."

"God."

"Her."

"Breasts."

"Are."

"Huge!"

That was one thing they all had to agree on. Every teen stared in awe, not able to take their eyes off of the two objects. "I'm Tsunade, the camp manager. Mess with me and you'll regret it." She pressed two fingers on the table next to her, and everyone watched with wide eyes as it crumbled.

"Holy crap," Naruto whispered in awe.

"Any questions or protests?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow in interest.

Neji raised his hand stoicly, showing no signs of fear. "Is there cell phone reception and wireless internet access in our cabins?"

Tsunade smiled. "Yes, there is. However, if you use the cell phone or laptop at any time after lights out---"

"And if you're caught," Anko added in, giving a suggestive wink.

"---the item or items will be confiscated and returned at the very end of camp."

"Right," Naruto said slowly to play along with her little 'joke'.

"I'm not joking, punk," Tsunade said seriously. "Maybe I won't return the stuff."

"You can't do that!" a kid with short, ruffled brown hair exclaimed, standing up.

"Watch me."

Nobody said anything after that. "Okay, well," Iruka said, glancing at his watch, "lunch is going to start in fifteen minutes. That gives you guys enough time to get comfy in the cabins and come back."

No one wasted any time getting out of there. They all rushed to their cabins, fearing the camp manager. "Hers are easily four times as big as mine," Ino whined, looking down at her own chest.

"You got that right," Shikamaru said, jogging past her.

Tenten laughed as the rest of the boys jogged past them. "Easy for you to snort!" Ino exclaimed jealously. "Your---"

Before Ino could continue, Tenten slapped a hand over Ino's mouth and laughed nervously. "OUT OF THE WAY!" someone yelled from behind. Sakura was pushed to the side by the same boy that vowed to try and pick Ino up earlier. He stopped and began jogging on the spot in front of Ino. "POOF!" he exclaimed.

Ino looked confused. "What the hell are you doing?"

The boy grinned and replied, "I'm here. What are your other two wishes?"

Sakura and Tenten laughed loudly at the boy's attempt. Hinata giggled a little, but found it entertaining. Another girl came up from behind and whacked the boy on the head. "Kankuro!" she exclaimed, causing him to stop jogging. The girl had blonde hair that was a little yellower than Ino's and was put into four pigtails: two high ones, and two low ones. "You're so disgusting. I can't believe you think those cheesy pick-up lines are going to work."

"Ow, Temari, that hurt!" he whined, rubbing his head.

The girl, who the girls assumed was Temari, turned to Ino, and smiled. "Sorry about that. My brother is so desperate. He really wants to find a girlfriend." She stuck her hand out. "I'm Temari Sabure, by the way."

Ino took her hand and shook it politely. "I'm Ino Yamanaka. These are my friends: Sakura Haruno, Tenten Ikiruchi, and Hinata Hyuuga," she introduced, pointing to each girl as she said their names. So, I'm guessing Kankuro is your only brother?"

Temari shook her head. "Unfortunately not. I've got one more brother, but he's nothing like Kankuro. His name is Gaara. He's more of the anti-social kid. I'm the oldest in the family by one year. I'm eighteen, Kankuro's seventeen, and Gaara's fifteen."

"Sounds like a full family," Sakura commented.

"It would be," Kankuro cut in with a monotone, "if our parents were still alive."

Sakura gasped. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories or---" She paused halfway through her sentence when she saw Kankuro's face cracking.

Finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore. The brown haired boy burst out laughing. He slapped Sakura's back playfully and grinned. "I'm just joking with ya! My parents are alive and kicking."

"That isn't funny!" Sakura exclaimed shrilly, violently punching him back. "I really thought I offended you guys."

"So," Temari said, starting a new conversation, "any of you trying out for the main role in the play?"

The four girls looked between each other as if silently asking each other the same question. Sakura gave an uncertain look; Hinata bit her lower lip and subtly shook her head; Tenten shrugged and shook her head. "Well, I am for sure," Ino said proudly. "I always try out for the main roles at school, and not to brag or anything, but I normally get the main parts."

Temari whistled and placed her hands on her hips. "Looks like I've got some competition," she said, adding in a wink. "G'luck with it. I'll see you guys later. What cabin are you guys at?"

"Cabin three," Hinata answered.

"Cool," Temari replied. "My brothers and I stay at cabin seven with this other girl. Stop by whenever you feel like it." (A/N: Ignore what I said at the top in chapter two. There are three cabins with guys, three with girls, and one with Temari, her brothers, and one more girl.) "See ya!"

Temari grabbed Kankuro's hand, but he refused to move. "Did it hurt?"

"What?" Tenten asked.

"When you fell from the sky."

Tenten chuckled. "Did it hurt?"

Kankuro smiled. _She's gonna use a pick-up line on me too!_ "Did what hurt?" he asked, playing along.

"When I smacked you upside your head?"

Before Kankuro could realize what happened, he felt a strike of pain on his head. "Ow, geez, that hurt!" He rubbed his head, but still managed to smirk. "But I've gotta hand it to you, that was smart."

"If you were smart, you'd be---"

"Okay, okay!" Kankuro exclaimed, finally being dragged away by his impatient sister. "I got the message! If I was smart, I'd be on my way."

Tenten smiled sweetly and waved. "Bye bye!" she said innocently. When the two of them were out of sight, Tenten spun around and looked at her friends. "Okay, I've got the perfect idea of what to do to the guys. I'll tell you when we get into the cabin, though."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(When they arrive at the cabin)

The four girls sat in a circle on the ground and intently stared at the brunette. "Okay, Tenten, spill," Ino ordered.

Tenten peered around as though she was about to release top secret information given to her by the government. "Okay," she said finally, "here's what I was thinking." Tenten whipped out her notebook and turned to the page at the very back to draw a diagram. "Naruto doesn't seem like the smartest apple in the bunch."

"Apples aren't supposed to be smart, Tenten," Ino stated in a matter of fact tone.

Sakura slapped her forehead. "She didn't---oh, nevermind."

Ino seemed to think for a few seconds, then suddenly realize what the metaphor was. "Oh," she laughed nervously, "I get it. Continue."

Tenten sighed and nodded. "Okay, so I was thinking: He's probably going to join swimming, because I overheard him speaking to Sasuke about it as they ran by. It's going to be at a lake, right? So, if that's correct, we'll probably have our bathing suits under our clothing so we can just take it off at the lake. Two of us should get out early; I'll be one of them, and Hinata will be the other. Hinata is going to steal his clothing that he'll probably leave under a tree or something. After that, she'll hand me the clothing, and I'll plant it in Neji's room. That way, those two will get into a big fight."

"Smartness!" Sakura and Ino squealed at the same time, high-fiving each other.

The three girls looked over to Hinata, who didn't look so excited. "N-Neji doesn't like it when people get him angry, and h-he'll get back at us really good... And I don't want to u-upset Naruto."

Tenten scoffed. "Naruto's a jerk, and Neji has it coming. So, come on and live a little! Will you help?"

Tenten stuck her hand out and gave the most serious look she could muster, biting her lip to stop the building giggles. Hinata looked hesitant and remember the many times Hanabi pranked Neji. Then she remembered the many trips she took to the hospital. Hanabi would get beaten up by Neji, and Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon, Hanabi's friends, would all gang up on Neji when he least expected it and ambushed. After that, Hiashi would lecture the poor boy and hit him on the head, leaving him to the Konohamaru Squad. And as if that wasn't enough, Hanabi and Neji's beds were always in the same room, right next to each other, because they had the same last name. That only made their stay even longer.

Finally, Hinata took Tenten's hand and shook it. "O-Okay," she said quietly.

"What about Sasuke and Shikamaru?" Ino inquired, throwing her notebook on one of the couches.

Tenten smiled evilly and winked. "I've got something in store for Shikamaru that'll definately get him off of his butt. I just need a little more time to think of something for Sasuke." Her voice trailed off into incoherent mumblings about different plans. "I'll call my brother's girlfriend up and see if she has any pranks to play on Sasuke. She taught me a few pranks back at home."

"Well, let's go drop off our stuff in our rooms and discuss what groups all of us are going to join," Hinata said.

* * *

Okay, I finally updated! It's going to take longer for me to get the next chapter up, though. I need to update my other story, and I'm really busy next week. I'll try my best, though!

And next chapter will have all of the pranks...I think. I'll try to fit them all in.

Here's are some lines that are going to be used in the next chapter. They might not be in order.

1) "Was that just Naruto streaking across the soccer field?"

2) "Why the hell do you have Naruto's clothing? Oh god, you're _gay_, aren't you?"

3) "Are those real?"

4) "Why did you shove your thong in my mouth?"

5) "Why do you have a thong in your mouth?"

6) "Can I take your bra off of me now?"

7) "Dude, I totally forgot it's your birthday!"

Review!

Power of Youth!


	5. The Pranks Take Place

I am SO. SORRY. I planned to have this chapter up on July 24th, but my mom grounded me. I finally got it back a few days later at 7:00, but then my mom called me to the kitchen right when I opened my e-mails. My japanese student (she came from Japan and she's staying at my house to learn english) was teaching us how to make different things with origami. So we were origaming (yes, 'origaming' is a verb to me. Use it in your english class. Then, when your teacher asks who told you 'origaming' is a real verb, tell them, "Ivona Doyu told me it's a real verb." I hold no responsibility to whatever happens to you next) for an hour and a half, and when I finally got back to my computer my mom said, "No more computer for tonight."

(If you actually do do the origaming thing with Ivona Doyu, PLEASE tell me what happens! XD But don't if you're afraid of getting into trouble XP)

And I almost died when I realized **17** people reviewed for the last chapter! Thanks so much everyone! I'd post your names, but I want to get this chapter up right now -sweatdrop-

One final note: I put this under Neji & Tenten because there's more of that than any other pairing in this chapter...I think.

* * *

After discussing for five minutes, everyone decided on what groups they wanted to join. Although some of them wanted to join more groups then they were going to, they all decided that time together meant more. After all, they didn't see enough of each other at home. All of them were homeschooled, meaning Tenten was heading off to university next year. And she wasn't being homeschooled for that, so that meant she had to go to an _actual_ school, _away_ from them.

Hinata ended up joining free swimming, arts & crafts, band (A/N: Band instruments sounds gay... don't ask why I put it), badminton, singing, and dancing.

Tenten planned to join band, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and free swimming. She wanted to join tennis, but it conflicted with the soccer schedule and the swimming schedule.

Sakura joined archery, volleyball, band, and dancing. She almost cried when she realized free swimming was at the same time as archery on friday nights, so she planned on approaching one of the adults and asking if they could reschedule so she could join.

Ino joined tennis, basketball, dancing, singing, and band. She, as well as Sakura, was going to beg the adults to change the monday schedule. She wanted to take swimming with her friends as well.

All of them planned to go to Sunnyshore Mall after Ino whined until her voice was too much for them. They were also thinking about going to the club. Associating with the other camp didn't sound really fun, but they were going to anyways on the eleventh, so they decided they might as well make friends there.

"Okay, so let's sign up for everything right now," Ino said as she and her friends jogged towards the cabin four minutes early. "Then we can ask if they can change the time for swimming on mondays and fridays. If they do, they can announce it at lunch."

"Got it," the three other girls said in unison.

Tenten, being the first there, opened the door and ran in. She turned right towards the sign up sheet, but something was in her way. "Oof!" she exclaimed, crashing into the person. Tenten quickly caught her balance, unlike the other person, and stumbled backwards. "Sorry, I just need to sign up for---hey, it's you!" She pointed an accusing finger at the person on the floor, who was pushing himself up. "I shouldn't be apologizing to you."

Neji scoffed and dusted himself off. "Pay respect to your elders."

"When were you born?"

"July third."

"March eighth."

"Damn."

Tenten stuck her tongue out and strutted past Neji towards the sign up sheets. Sakura and Ino skipped behind her, and Hinata followed, nodding to her cousin as if greeting him. He nodded back and watched them walk by him.

The four girls signed up for all of their events, except Ino and Sakura didn't sign up for swimming just yet. They ran towards Anko---knowing she was the best teacher---to ask her to change the swimming schedule. Tenten and Hinata waited next to the sheets and smiled. Or rather Hinata smiled at Naruto, while Tenten smiled at Hinata.

"Go talk to him," Tenten urged, nudging Hinata.

Hinata shook her head. "I-I don't want to."

Tenten sighed with defeat. She hated it when Hinata admired from the sidelines. That was the main reason why none of the guys she liked before liked her back: she never took action. "Hey, Naruto!" Tenten called, waving her hand in the air. "Get over here!"

Hinata gasped and grabbed Tenten's arm to pull it down, but it was too late. Naruto had already seen Tenten waving and headed over in their direction. "What's up?" he asked.

Tenten saw the rest of the boys standing behind Naruto and snorted. _It's like they always have to follow each other. _"Hinata has something to ask you."

Hinata's eyes widened as she quickly glanced at Tenten, who was smiling playfully. The girl looked back at Naruto, who was grinning cutely. Hinata blushed lightly. "I was just wondering," she said, trying to think up a conversation, "do you like ramen?"

Naruto gasped and laughed. "I LOVE ramen!" he exclaimed. The two began having a conversation with Naruto proclaiming his love of ramen, while Hinata nodded and added in a few of her opinions about it.

"Hey, Adangos!" a boy called from behind. The six of them all turned around to see a boy with short brown hair and two red, fang-like markings on each of his cheeks running towards them.

"Adangos?" Tenten asked, fake-frowning. "That's my big summer nickname?" Nobody had ever thought of calling her that before, even though her hair was always fashioned in twin buns.

The boy shrugged. "I don't know your name, so it ain't my fault. Would you rather me calling you Ivona Humpalot?" Tenten scrunched her nose up, and forced herself not to laugh. "Anyways, I hear---"

Naruto gasped and pointed at the boy, who raised an eyebrow. "You're the kid that threw that bowling ball at Iruka!"

Said boy smiled and nodded proudly. "Yep, that's me. Kiba Inuzuka; remember it." He turned back to Tenten. "Anyways, I hear you play the guitar. Could you join my group for the talent show? You can play the electric guitar, right?"

"I dunno," Tenten said slowly, pondering the suggestion. "My friends and I might put on a show together," she trailed off and looked at Hinata, who shrugged. "Could I get back to you on that, Kiba Inuzuka?"

Kiba nodded. "Sure thing, Adangos."

"It's Tenten Irikuchi."

Kiba scoffed playfully, then looked at Hinata. "And what's your name?" he asked, lightly blushing.

Hinata blushed and Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. "H-Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata replied, playing with her fingers behind her back. "Nice to meet you, Kiba." She slowly extended her hand and Kiba shook it firmly. She blushed even harder. _His hands are so warm, _she thought dreamily.

"Kiba," another boy called from behind them. Everyone looked to see the boy who wore sunglasses (and was lucky enough to have more protection from the flash of death, aka: Gai's smile) shoving his hands in his pockets.

"He speaks," Sasuke said with fake-surprise.

Kiba laughed. "Yeah, he seems quiet," he said, "but he's a cool guy. Shino Aburame is his name. His parents both specialize in genetic mutation. He's got an obsession with bugs," Tenten and Hinata remembered Ino's strong dislike of bugs, "but then again, some say I'm overly obsessed with dogs. So who am I to talk? Anyways, I'll see you guys later." He waved then ran towards Shino, who didn't move at all.

Shikamaru smirked. "Let me guess: the blonde princess is scared of bugs?"

"How did you know?" Tenten asked stupidly, ignoring the 'don't say anything' hand gestures Hinata gave behind Shikamaru. "Oops," Tenten added once she saw the smirk on Shikamaru's face.

"I didn't," he responded. "One of the four of you, or more, probably had a fear of bugs. I saw it when the both of you exchanged reminiscing looks as Kiba spoke of Shino's obsession. And since Ino seems like one of those stuck up girls---What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Tenten's wide smile cut him off and caused him to change subjects quickly. "You like her! You like Ino!"

"E-Excuse me?" Shikamaru sputtered. "I don't like her. Pshaw, she's just one of those other---she is---people like---"

"Hey!" Ino yelled, slinging an arm around Tenten and Hinata's shoulders. "What's up? Why does the cute little deer look flustered?" **(1)**

Sakura frowned, pushing Ino forwards so her arms flew into the air and off of her friends' shoulders. "A name pun? That's lame, Ino."

"Shut up, forehead!"

"Make me, pig!"

"That's a name pun right there!"

"Is not!"

"Okay, break it up," Hinata said, pushing the two apart. "We shouldn't fight."

Ino and Sakura scoffed at the same time and crossed their arms. "Whatever," they both muttered.

Tenten inched closer to Shikamaru and whispered in his ear, "You so like her." Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something, but Tenten cut him off by clearing her throat. "Don't worry, I won't say anything." She childishly stuck her tongue out at Shikamaru, who was whispering protests at how he absolutely hated Ino with the depths of his soul. "That is, as long as you bend down to my every need."

"I don't like her, so it doesn't matter," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Tenten rolled her eyes. Before she could continue teasing, Ino moved her nose between the two and turned to face Shikamaru, glaring.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked slowly, suspicion crawling all over her face. "Is it me?"

Tenten looked at Shikamaru, who scoffed. "Why would I bother wasting my breath talking about you?" he asked, placing his hands behind his head. "I'm out of here."

Sasuke purposely brushed his arm against her shoulder (since Sasuke is taller), causing Sakura to blush lightly. _Is he flirting with me? N-No way! Sasuke is my rival... He's a jerk! Anyways,---_

"Hey, Sakura," Hinata called, waving her hand in front of the pink haired girl's face. "Sakura, are you okay?" Sakura shook her head and blinked rapidly.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Hinata smiled. "You spaced out for a few seconds there." She turned so she faced all of her friends. "I think we should get going. I mean, lunch is starting soon."

The three girls gasped. Lunch was pushed to the back of their minds the moment they stepped into the main cabin. The four of them rushed towards the mess hall (A/N: That's like the cafeteria, if I'm not mistaken...). It wasn't anything fancy like they were used to. There were no grand tables made of ebony, with white, expensive table cloths draping from all angles, and there were definately no candelabras. No, there were merely six medium sized tables made of rosewood, and no placemats or table cloths. There was a large, long table near the kitchen, topped with marble that seemed to be one inch thick from top to bottom. Different dishes were lined up, steam rising from them, fogging up the metal case in which the meat was in.

"Hey, Temari!" Sakura called, waving at the blonde girl who stepped in with Kankuro and another red-headed boy.

Said girl looked over and smiled. "Hey, Sakura!" She walked over to the girls with her brothers trailing behind. "Ugh, we were almost late. I can imagine the speech the adults would give us about not being tardy for the first lunch."

"It was all your fault," the boy with red hair said coldly.

Temari blinked then smiled. "Oh, this is my other brother, Gaara." Then her smile curved downwards. "And it's not my fault!"

"Is so!" Kankuro cut in.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

**&&FLASHBACK**

Temari sat on one of the chairs, druming her fingers on the armrest impatiently. "Gaara!" she barked, pushing herself up on the chair. "Get out here! We're going to be late if you dawdle!"

Gaara reluctantly walked out from his room with a look of pure embarrassment on his face. Kankuro, who was humming to a song, stopped immediately and had a look of horror on his face. "What the hell are you doing, Gaara?"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Gaara shouted. "Temari forced me to wear this!"

Temari examined the sight of her brother in her pink, lacy bra. "How does it feel?"

"Gay," Gaara said automatically. Kankuro sensed the trace of murder in his brother's voice, and he was sure Temari did too, but she seemed to ignore it.

"No!" she said, slapping her forehead. "I mean...how does it feel here?" She brought her hands under her chest and lifted them up and down a few times. "How does it feel there?"

Gaara was now blushing a deep crimson, and looking very uncomfortable. "It errr---hey, wait! I'm flat-chested, and you aren't!" He blushed even harder at saying that, but continued with his rage and confusion. "So, why should I be trying on your bra?"

Temari sighed and rubbed her temples. "Yeah, Gaara is---" Suddenly, Kankuro stopped mid-way in his sentence. He gazed at his brother's chest, which, indeed, was bigger than it should be. It wasn't flat anymore. "Are those real?"

"NO!" Gaara exclaimed. "Temari made me stuff my chest to make it more like hers!"

"Stop whining!" Temari shouted.

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Can I take your bra off of me now?"

"Sure. But one sec, there's this special thing you need to remove bras."

Temari began to fish around in her bag while her brothers waited impatiently. Gaara kept a straight face, then suddenly it hit him. "Hey, wait! There's no special thing you need to remove bras! No girls have even used anything to remove their bras! I should know." Temari shot Gaara and disgusted look, mixed with murderous intent. "SAYS KANKURO!" he added quickly.

"I'm going to get you later," she said to Kankuro, who gulped loudly. But before Gaara could do anything, there was a flash of light that momentarily blinded him. More flashes followed it, until Gaara was so dizzy he fell to the ground. Although he couldn't see anything, he heard his sister say, "Now I've got some blackmail material to use on this kid. Come on, Kankuro. Help me get this bra off of Gaara."

**&&END OF FLASHBACK**

Temari opened her mouth to say something, but Kankuro quickly slapped his hand over it. "Nothing!" he and Gaara said at the same time. And why wasn't Kankuro helping Temari to embarrass his brother? Well, Kankuro was caught in a similar situation a few years ago that involved a tampon...

Quickly, Gaara and Kankuro scurried away, dragging their sister along with them. Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata looked at each other, then shrugged.

The girls took a seat at a table which had two other people sitting at it, filling the table up. One of them was quite chubby, with light brown hair. He seemed extremely excited once Kakashi walked towards the front, ready to call it lunch. The other boy had black hair fashioned in a bowl-cut. He had thick eyebrows (that strangely resembled Gai's), and fish-like eyes. He flashed the girls a smile and gave them a thumbs up, welcoming them to the table.

"My name is Rock Lee," he said, stretching his hand out. The four girls politely shook it and introduced themselves.

The other boy seemed to finally realize the girls were there, wiped up his drool with his sleeve, and extended his other arm. "I'm Choji Akimichi."

"Charmed," Sakura said kindly, smiling.

"Okay, listen up, kids," Kakashi said, breaking into each conversation and causing them to look straight at him. "We've changed the swimming schedule on mondays and fridays. On mondays, it will take place at -INSERT TIME-, and on fridays it will take place at -INSERT ANOTHER TIME-."

Kiba, who was sitting at another table with Shino and four other people, stuck his hand up. "Why wasn't that guy introduced earlier today?" he asked rudely, pointing at Asuma, who was currently being nagged by Kurenai because she caught him with yet another package of cigarettes.

Anko smirked and pushed Kakashi out of the spotlight, much to his displeasure. "Because after Kurenai and I had a little chat, she wasn't able to look at Asuma. And as if hearing his name would make anything better for her." **(2)**

All of the girls at the camp smiled, knowing exactly what Anko was talking about. The boys, on the other hand, only had a few of their 'kind' that were knowledgeable in that area. Temari leaned over and whispered into Kankuro's ear, "Kurenai's obviously crushing on Asuma!" Kankuro made a gagging noise.

"Anyways," Kakashi said through his clenched teeth (or that's what it sounded like, since nobody could see past his mask), stepping in front of Anko, "you can all line up," and for more assurance, he repeated, "**line up**, to get your food."

Ino looked as though she was going to have a seizure. The meat looked, well, dreadful once she had a closer look. Or, perhaps it was just Ino. It looked as though it was bathed in blood, cooked, then bathed in blood again before being served to them. Tenten sighed and used the large fork given to impale one and throw it onto her plate. "Don't look at it like it's some sort of human body, Ino," she stated. "You need to get some meat on your body."

Sakura and Hinata nodded as they each grabbed their own piece of the meat. Ino's eyes darted between her friends and the piece of meat. "It isn't like we poisoned it or anything," Sakura said, referring to the suspicious look in Ino's eyes.

"I know that!" Ino snapped, looking back at the meat.

Before she could say anything, a slab of meat was picked up and messily placed on her plate. Ino gasped and looked up to see who would have violated her 'personal space' as she liked to call it. "Of course," she sneered, finding it was Shikamaru.

The boy merely rolled his eyes. "You were holding up the line, and Tenten's right---" Tenten laughed, as though Shikamaru was already bending to her every order and point of view "---, you do need to get some meat on your body." He slapped Ino's back playfully then walked forwards.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji passed her, each quickly grabbing their own piece of meat then moving on to get spoonfuls of rice. Sasuke whispered something to Naruto, who laughed loudly and whispered what Ino suspected to be the same thing to Neji. He smirked, stole a quick glance at Ino, then bit his lower lip...something that seemed out of character for someone like him.

A few more snickers were heard from behind Ino, causing her to whip around (she is the last in the line of her friends). Hinata, who reached back in the line to get a packet of ketchup, also bit her lip and looked around nervously. "Ino," she whispered, causing Ino to whip around again. "There's something on your back."

Ino blushed lightly and turned around so her back faced Hinata. "Take it off!" she hissed, embarrassment flooding into her voice.

Hinata obeyed and ripped the paper off. Ino spun around right after that and snatched the paper from Hinata's hands. "No way!" Ino exclaimed. Her face now looked like she had a sunburn.

"What is it?" Sakura inquired, peeking out from behind Hinata. Ino crumpled the paper in her hands and thrusted her closed fist at Sakura. She dropped the paper into Sakura's hands, and the pink haired girl unfolded it with Tenten peering over her shoulder.

Sakura felt embarrassed from her friend. Tenten, on the other hand, roared with laughter, almost dropping her tray of food. Ino shot her a dark look, causing Tenten to straighten up immediately and give a shameful look in Shikamaru's direction. "I can't believe he did that!" Tenten said despisingly. A few seconds later, she repeated the same phrase, only it sounded more impressed than last time. "They've got guts," she concluded. "But we're going to show them we've got more---"

"---balls---" Sakura interupted.

"---than they do," Tenten finished, snorting at Sakura's addition.

Tenten handed Ino the paper, and she crumpled the 'spank me hard' sign and threw it into the nearest trash can. Sakura picked it out and threw it into the recycling box, but not before spitting at it first.

The four girls took their seats again, and found Lee already there. Choji was still getting food. "Why is it taking him so long to get his food?" Hinata inquired. "I thought he was the first person to get in line."

Lee nodded and wagged a finger at them. "Yes, but Choji is on his seconds."

Sakura, who was taking a sip from her glass, spat out a mouthful of water at the person sitting across from her. Sakura slammed the glass down and gasped. "I am so sorry, Tenten!"

Tenten held a stone face, though her eyebrows were twitching and her eyes narrowed. She wiped her face with her hand, then threw the water out by shaking her hand to the side (A/N: I know you know what I'm taking about... You know when people hog the electric dryer in the washrooms so you just shake your hands to dry it? Yeah, that's it).

Neji, who was walking by, smirked smugly. "Your bangs look better in that style," he said, trying his best to maintain a straight face. "At least with them wet, they hide part of your face."

Tenten stood up to charge straight at him, but Hinata caught her arm and dragged Tenten back to her seat. Tenten hissed a string of swears and curses, causing Hinata to widen her eyes with shock. "T-Tenten, please refrain from calling my cousin that!"

Tenten swore once more quietly, then smiled. "So, what did Anko say about the swimming schedule?" she asked, changing the subject.

Ino and Sakura exchanged glances before looking back at Tenten. "Anko said she can't change the schedule," Sakura began.

"But that ruins the plan!" Tenten interupted angrily.

Ino shook her head then continued, "we can still make it, or rather, Sakura can make it to swimming on mondays, and I can make it to swimming on fridays. We explained to her how _tragic_ it is that we're going to be separate, so she said it's okay if we can't make it for one day each week."

Tenten and Hinata clapped excitedly. "So, that means the plan will commence?" Hinata asked, still unsure if it was the right idea.

"Yup," Sakura and Ino said, twin stars sparkling in their eyes.

------------------------------------------------------------------

After eating lunch, everyone returned back to their cabins. Tenten was preparing for soccer, which would be starting at 3:00 for her. She also packed her swimming suit so she wouldn't have to run back to the cabin after soccer. Ino made sure she had an outfit appropriate for tennis, while Sakura and Hinata packed swim wear.

"So," said Sakura when they were done and sitting in the main room of their cabin, "what's the plan for pranking Sasuke and Shikamaru?"

Tenten laughed, as though thinking of the idea, and smiled.

------------------------------------------------------------------

The boys sat in a circle, staring at each other intently. "The girls are going to prank us back, big time," Sasuke said finally.

"Why is that?" Naruto asked.

"Because of what Shikamaru did to Ino," Neji answered before Sasuke could open his mouth. "So, we need to be ready for counter attacks."

Shikamaru snorted. "You make it sound like we're going off to war."

Sasuke ignored Shikamaru's comment and turned to Neji. "So, you're going off to soccer at three. I heard that Tenten girl is taking soccer too, so you had better be careful."

Shikamaru seemed to consider this warning for a moment, and hummed in thought. "No, actually, I think Neji will be safe at soccer. Since Tenten is going to be the only girl in their group taking it, there is a big chance they'll wait and put the prank off until a time when they're all together. That means we're safe at swimming too, because Ino will be at tennis. And, Ino doesn't seem like the type to want to miss a prank, so the attack will probably be planned on wednesday at swimming."

The three other boys seemed to absorb the information, then slowly, they nodded, one after the other. "So, have any prank ideas?" Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. Before Sasuke could turn to Neji to see his answer, Naruto had blocked the way and forced Sasuke to look straight at his face. "I've got an idea!" he exclaimed loudly. "You know the showerheads, right?" His friends nodded, not seeing where his head was leading. "Well, we could open it, pour sugar or some other powder like hot chocolate or coffee in it, then screw it back on. That way, when they turn the shower on, and use the showerhead, the powder will pour out with the water, causing whoever it is to get really sticky!"

Sasuke and Neji looked skeptical, but turned to Shikamaru to see if it could really work. Shikamaru thought for a little longer, imagining the scene in his mind (A/N: Not the girls bathing, perverts!), then finally he nodded slowly. "Actually, that could work. We just need to line the inside of the showerhead so the water doesn't stick to the showerhead's inside before it falls out. Or better yet," he stroked his chin thoughtfully, "we could fill their water supply with one hundred percent pure orange juice."

The two prodigies seemed to like Shikamaru's idea better, causing Naruto to frown sourly. "But remember, your idea came from mine!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, you can have all of the credit."

------------------------------------------------------------------

Tenten stiffly walked at a fast pace from the soccer field at 4:20. Soccer had gone overtime, and it wasn't much better that she had to shower quickly after practice. Neji had tripped her 'accidentally', causing her to fall face-first into a puddle of mud. Other than Neji being there, soccer was pretty entertaining. Lee, who was also in soccer, was remarkably good---no, excellent! His speed, combined with his power, slammed right into Neji's family jewels when he was in goal, trying to stop the ball. Tenten burst out laughing and rolled on the floor, receiving a stern lecture at how not to laugh at a teammate's pain from Gai.

Tenten looked around her, making sure Neji was not following her to the pool, then let out a sigh out relief when he was no where in sight. Her clock read 4:27 when she found a good place in the forest to slip her clothing off. Tenten quickly undid her buns and put her hair in two low braids that rested on her shoulders, fixed her green two-piece bathing suit so it was comfortable. The top covered most of her stomach, but her bellybutton was showing, and the bottom was a pair of semi-loose shorts.

Tenten rushed outside to see she made it just in time. Sakura and Ino were already in the pool, waving her over. Sakura was wearing her pink bikini, and Ino was wearing a dark blue one-piece. Sakura had tied her short hair into a high ponytail, and Ino let hers down.

"Took you long enough," Sakura said as Tenten dipped into the pool. "Neji already got back from practice a few minutes ago. What took you so long?"

Tenten growled and furrowed her eyebrows. "He tripped me near the end of practice, so I had to shower afterwards. Soccer went about ten minutes past its supposed time, and Gai asked me to help him pack up the soccer balls, since I was the only one left." Then she grinned like the Cheshire Cat and added, "But it was all worth it. Lee, that kid that sat at our table at lunch, joined soccer too. His speed and power is amazing! Neji was at goal, and everyone else was taking shots at him. Then Lee kicked the ball way too hard, and it slammed into Neji's stomach, causing him to practically fly back! It was awesome!"

The girls swam around, discussing the pranks they planned to play that day. Tenten floated on her back, kicking so she streamed across the pool. Aya, who was flirting with Naruto, was 'accidentally' splashed by Sakura. Aya whipped around, rippling the water around her, and demanding to know why she was now soaking wet.

"I was trying to splash Tenten," Sakura replied casually. Both of their visions drifted to see Tenten was in the opposite direction, causing Aya to fume even more and clench her fists underwater. "If you didn't want to get wet," Sakura continued, trying to cover up her bad excuse, "you shouldn't have gotten into the pool."

WHAM! Hinata, who was treading water at the other side of the pool (the deep end), turned around. Sakura was covering her nose and half of her face with her hands, and Aya seemed stunned. But the shock on her face was quickly replaced with an evil grin. Hinata swam rapidly towards them, earning praise for her above average speed. "Sakura!" Hinata exclaimed when she reached her friend. "What happened?"

Sakura swore under her breath, but it was even more inaudible than it would have been because her hands were covering her mouth. She shot a glare at Aya, who was inoocently speaking with another boy while stealing quick glances at Sakura. Tenten swiftly made her way towards Sakura. She snatched one of Sakura's hands from her face and frowned. "You've got a bloody nose!" she said, wrinkling her nose with disgust. "That little---"

"Mfph," Sakura cut in before Tenten could swear loudly enough for Aya, not to mention half the pool to hear.

"Let's go get this cleaned up," Hinata said, pushing herself up with the edge of the pool towards the cement surrounding it.

Sakura complied, but not before smearing the blood on her hand all over Aya's perfect complexion. Sakura and Tenten cracked up as Sakura jumped out of the pool and ran away from a screaming Aya. Tenten snorted and said, "Here, let me help you wash that off your face," before dumping Aya's head into the water and holding it there for a few seconds. "Bitch," Tenten added. She leaped out of the pool and followed her friends into the clearing of trees.

The boys, who were watching the scene along with the rest of the teens there, couldn't help but laugh. "Looks like Sakura took care of Aya," Shikamaru said. "I doubt she'll be hanging all over you for a while." He looked over at Naruto, who grinned sheepishly.

"What can I say?" he asked. "Girls can't stop fighting over me."

"Bull," Neji muttered, kicking away from his friends.

"Bull you!" Naruto countered stupidly, thinking it was the best comeback in the world.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Brilliant comeback," he said sarcastically.

"Hey, shut up!"

"Make me."

"Maybe I should just get Sakura to kiss you!" Naruto began making kissy faces in front of Sasuke. Then he turned around and wrapped his arms around himself, making make-out noises. "Oh, Sakura," he said in a tone that sounded like a horrible imitation of Sasuke, "your hotness makes me want to melt! I only fight with you so I can smell your hair!"

Sasuke and Naruto began to have a verbal fight with occasional pushing, while Neji and Shikamaru watched. "Should we stop them?" Neji asked.

Sasuke smiled gayly (A/N: Yes, that's a word to me...) and threw his hands up in the air. "Ooooo, look at me!" he said in a girly voice. "I'm Naruto! I cut out pictures of girls I like from the yearbook and kiss them every night, pretending its them. But I'm sure I'll be prepared when I get to kiss a real girl, because I practice making out with my pillow when I'm not being the fruitiest fruity fruit in the whole world!"

"I have to kissed a girl!" Naruto retorted. "You're the one who hasn't! You're the pansiest pansy that ever pansied a pansy!"

"That makes no sense, you moron," Sasuke said, obviously getting worked up about the fight.

"You're just too stupid to understand what I'm saying!"

Shikamaru and Neji began twitching at the sight. "Nah," Shikamaru said, trying to suppress a smile. "We'll let them fight it out."

There was silence between the two as they saw the gayest insults being thrown between the feuding friends. Finally, Neji spoke. "That's actually really creepy," he said when he saw Sasuke do the strangest thing. "I'm going to stop them. Right now. Before I go blind." No response from Shikamaru. "Hey, Shikamaru," Neji said, turning to face his friend.

Shikamaru's eyes were crossed and he began slipping beneath the water, seemingly unconcious. He was mumbling something about, "Kill me now," then he was silent and drooling into the water.

Neji slowly swam away from his friends, trying to block out Naruto and Sasuke's voices, while by now were so loud, Neji swore they were using microphones and the speakers were booming into the Hyuuga's ears.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten stopped behind a few trees and watched the sight in the pool. "Anyways, are you okay?" Hinata asked slowly, turning away from the sight.

"It's like a train wreck," Tenten shuddered, still watching the scene. "You don't wanna stare, but you can't look away."

Sakura nodded slowly, then looked at Hinata and smiled. "Yeah, I'm good." She wiped her hands on a few trees, but Tenten caught her hand and shook her head.

"No, this could work out to be good for us!" she exclaimed.

Sakura and Hinata cocked their head to the side. "Explain," they both said at the same time.

Tenten smiled mischievously and rubbed her hands together. "Well, Sakura has a bloody nose, or so they think. That way, if both of you disappear from the pool, I could say it's because Hinata's taking care of Sakura. And Sakura, if you rub your blood-covered hands on Neji's bedsheets, as well as his pants, it'll be even better!" (A/N: Get what I'm saying...? Blood...on Neji's sheets...? Yeah...) "So, put Naruto's shirt on the bathroom floor. Then put his undershirt near the door to the bathroom. Then put his pants and his boxers under Neji's bedsheets."

Hinata scrunched up her face. "I don't know," she said, trailing off.

Sakura slapped Hinata's back and grinned as widely as she could, trying not to burst out laughing. "That's hilarious!"

Pause. Rewind. Play. Sakura slapped Hinata's back and grinned---rewind. Sakura slapped Hinata's back. Pause. "S-Sakura!" Hinata whined, trying to look at her back from over her shoulder. "C-Could you please get the blood off of my back?"

Sakura bit her lower lip to stop from laughing and got Tenten to wipe her back. "Okay," Tenten said, getting the last of the blood, "let's go!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

Tenten cannonballed into the deepest end of the pool then swam to the area around the middle. She leaned against the wall and placed her arms behind her to make sure she didn't sink.

"Where are you friends?" Neji asked, casually swimming towards her.

Tenten kept a straight face, trying not to think about the prank. "Sakura's got a bloody nose," she said, "and Hinata's helping her clean it up."

"I see."

"...so, enjoying this camp?"

Neji thought for a moment, then said, "I'm waiting for something interesting to happen."

"Something interesting?"

"Yeah. Something that'll cause a big commotion at the camp." He grinned smugly. "But I have a feeling something like that will happen soon." His eyes locked with Tenten's, as if trying to suggest something. Tenten felt herself blushing lightly, then dumped her head underwater to hide it. Neji snorted and swam away.

------------------------------------------------------------------

**:) 5:27pm...At the Pool**

Everyone began getting out of the pool, not wanting to see Gai jump in with a speedo on. Or, at least, that's what Sasuke said as he was getting out; everyone quickly followed him. Tenten looked around and spotted a subtle blond dot bobbing up and down in the forest. She smiled. _Good. Ino is in her spot to play the prank on Shikamaru. I just have to stall them. _She turned around and blocked Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, and Naruto's path. "So," she said, forcing a smile, "did you guys enjoy the swim?"

"Out of our way," Neji muttered, trying to push past her.

Tenten growled, totally forgetting about the plan. "Hey, bastard, get back here!" She jumped on his back and the two began wrestling wildly on the ground, rolling around in the dirt.

"Get a bed, you two," Naruto laughed, walking past them.

Tenten had to think fast. "I bet you wouldn't be able to," she said quickly.

Naruto stopped in his mid-walk. He roboticaly turned around and gave a deadly stare at Tenten, who jumped off of the ground. "I'm joking! I'm joking!" And with that, she quickly ran away.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I was just going to ask her the time."

Shikamaru shrugged and slipped off his swim trunks behind a few trees. He ignored his friends, who were conversing as they undressed...which sort of creeped Shikamaru out. He put his boxers and shorts on. Something was wriggling around in it. Shikamaru looked down to see bumps moving around in his shorts, and...

"HOLY--WHAT THE---SON OF A---MOTHER---"

Sasuke and Neji ran towards Shikamaru, who was now dancing strangely. "What the hell are you doing?" Neji gasped, watching his friend slap his shorts every so often.

"There's a freaking civilization wrestling in my shorts!" Shikamaru shouted, throwing his shorts off. Small, red ants crawled out of them. "Fire ants!" he yelled, stomping around angrily. "Stupid fire ants!"

"FIRE ANTS?!" Naruto screamed. "QUICK, GET SOME WATER BEFORE THEY BURN THROUGH SHIKAMARU'S PANTS!"

"That's not why they're called fire ants, you idiot," Sasuke sighed. "And put some clothes on! Nobody wants to see you nude, especially your friends."

Naruto looked around and had a scared look on his face. "B-But..my clothes aren't here!"

"You've got to be kidding," Shikamaru exclaimed.

Naruto shook his head. "I've got to find them!" And with that, Naruto ran away to look for his clothing, completely forgetting the fact that he was naked.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Ino ran out of the forest as fast as she could, covering her mouth with her hands so she wouldn't laugh and give her location away. She finally reached the soccer field, which was close to her cabin, and plopped down next to Tenten, who was breathing hard. "That...was...hilarious!" Ino exclaimed between pants and laughs.

Tenten nodded and opened her mouth to say something. But before she could, both girls spotted a blond figure running across the soccer field, screaming for his clothes. "Was that just Naruto streaking across the soccer field?" she asked, her mouth wide open.

"Yeah," Ino said slowly, as though in a trance. Both girls fake-gagged. "I guess we'd better get going to the cabin. We don't want to seem suspicious when they guys get to their cabin."

"Right," Tenten agreed, standing up.

* * *

I tried to fit all of the lines from last chapter in, as well as the pranks, but it's just getting too long. Forgive me! These are the lines I have to use next chapter:

1) "Why the hell do you have Naruto's clothing? Oh god, you're _gay_, aren't you?"

2) "Why did you shove your thong in my mouth?"

3) "Why do you have a thong in your mouth?"

4) "Dude, I totally forgot it's your birthday!"

And I need to do Sasuke's prank. And, of course, what will happen when Sasuke and Shikamaru find Naruto's clothing in Neji's room, with blood smeared on the blankets? -wink-

This isn't one of my best chapters, but I hope it was good enough for you guys. There will be a lot more happening in the next chapter.

Oh, and thanks to **-ShikaIno-Lover-4Ever-** for the idea of the prank to play on Shikamaru! She used spiders, but I used fire ants.

**UPDATED;;** Sorry, I totally forgot to put what the numbers are, so I uploaded this again.

**(1) "**What's up? Why does the cute little deer look flustered?" (Ino)  
That refers to Shikamaru's name. You know... _Shika_ means _deer_. Yes, I had to put that pun in.

**(2) **"Because after Kurenai and I had a little chat, she wasn't able to look at Asuma. And as if hearing his name would make anything better for her." (Anko)  
Kurenai likes Asuma. Simple as that. Strict girls need some lovin' too!

And also, I'm thinking of putting up a collection of random one-shots. The pairings will be the regular: Tenten X Neji, Ino X Shikamaru, Hinata X Naruto, Sakura X Sasuke, Sakura X Lee, and maybe some requested pairings. The genres will vary as well: angst, humour, drama, friendship, etc. See my profile for more details. CTRL + F and search for _Upcoming_. You should find it then. Make sure you take the period away though.

There's another story I'm thinking of writing (the marriage one). But I'm not sure if I should do that one either. Blehh. If you're interested in either one, or both, just say it in the review. But you don't have to. Thanks a lot!


	6. The Course Of Action

Thanks to **Chigiri Sasaki**, **Chisando**, **IS2Pandas**, **Steffy27**, **Kishiko-chan**, **shafo13**, **scotty-lover**, **niwichan2468**, **ryoandasuka4ever**, **Aoiro Kuma**, **xroyal.momonessx**, **'-Lizzie Yamanaka-'**, **imissmycupcake**, **Digital98**, **Oblivion Shadow**, **babygurl1012**, **MissynML** and **lilchibihina** for reviewing!

And a special thanks to **Kunoichi-of the-Leaf** (who also reviewed) for getting me inspired!

Holy cream, 19 people! Thanks so much everyone!

* * *

Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Neji were walking across the soccer field towards their cabin. Sasuke was infront of Shikamaru, and Neji was behind, covering the embarrassed Shikamaru. His legs were covered in small bites, that trailed up his shorts, and well...you can imagine the pain."You really don't think it's suspicious if two guys are surrounding another one?" Sasuke mumbled.

Shikamaru's eyes peered around his friends, trying to spot anyone that could humiliate him further. "It's 5:37," he whispered, "so there probably aren't many people walking around. But still," he stopped speaking, as though everything after that was implied.

"There's the cabin," Neji said, pushing Shikamaru forwards.

Shikamaru, who didn't expect it, couldn't hold his balance and fell onto Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't stop it either, so he fell to the ground with Shikamaru on top of him. "What the," Sasuke and Shikamaru growled at the same time.

Neji quickly whipped out a camera and took a quick picture with no flash so neither of the boys would know. He stuffed the camera back in his pocket then reached down to help Sasuke up. "Hey, why aren't you helping me?" Shikamaru questioned.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Because you're the reason we have to walk around like a human shield." Nonetheless, he stuck his hand out and roughly pulled Shikamaru up, who didn't seem so happy. "Let's just hurry up. Naruto's probably back at the cabin right now, and unless you guys trust him in there alone, I suggest we speed this up."

Sasuke and Shikamaru looked at each other, then nodded and quickly walked the rest of the way to the cabin. As they passed the girls' cabin, they heard a massive amount of giggling, and the light in the main room was on. Although they were pretty suspicious of what was going on, the boys decided to leave it. They would get the girls back sooner or later. "Looks like your assumption was wrong, Shikamaru," Sasuke said in a matter-of-fact tone. "The girls did prank us, or rather _you_, when not all of them were there."

"That's not completely true," Neji said. "I saw in the forest, as Tenten was running away, that someone was there. And that someone looked like Ino. That meant, at some point, the four of them got together to plan this so it worked out perfectly."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Oooo, with those special eyes of yours that can see everything? That's just stupid."

"It's not stupid," Neji snapped. "I told you, my family has eyes that can see things normal people can't. None of the Hyuugas can explain it, but it's true." Sasuke nodded, but the moment Neji turned around, Sasuke brought his finger up to his ear and began spinning it to signify that Neji was crazy. "I saw that," Neji said, his back still facing both Sasuke and Shikamaru.

Both boys rolled their eyes and Sasuke reached for the door. He twisted the doorknob and pulled on it, opening the door. The scene that awaited them was shocking. Shikamaru's jaw dropped; Neji felt nauseous; Sasuke felt his eyes burn. Naruto was standing there. Naked. In the middle of the room. "But some clothes on, you idiot!" Shikamaru exclaimed, turning away from the scene.

"Bathroom," Neji muttered, quickly running past his nude friend to his own room.

Naruto looked at them for a moment, then laughed. "Oh, okay." He ran to his room, and in less than a minute, came out, dressed. "Now, let's go get Neji and plan a prank on the girls for getting Shikamaru."

Sasuke, who finally recovered, and Shikamaru agreed and the three of them walked into Neji's room. "Why the hell do you have Naruto's clothing? Oh god, you're _gay_, aren't you?" Sasuke cried, turning to Neji, who was just walking out of the bathroom.

"What? No!" Neji exclaimed. "But I found this in my bathroom." He brought up Naruto's shirt. Silence.

Naruto chuckled and slapped his forehead. "I thought my clothing would be here."

More silence. "Do you guys do each other at night?" Shikamaru gasped, backing away from both friends. Neji neared closer to Shikamaru (with a menacing look on his face), who was trapped against the wall. "NO! DON'T RAPE ME!"

Neji slapped a hand over Shikamaru's mouth and sighed. "I'm not gay," he said, his eyebrow twitching. "And if I was, I wouldn't go gay with Naruto. Trust me."

Even more silence. "Ignoring the fact that it sounds like you've thought that out," Sasuke said, wrinkling his nose, "and ignoring the fact that---no, wait, I'm not ignoring this." He turned to Naruto, who was gathering his clothing from Neji's bed. "Why the hell did you think your clothing would be in Neji's room?"

Naruto shrugged. "I checked both of your rooms, and it wasn't there."

"And why was there blood on it?"

Naruto shrugged. "These things happen."

Twitch. "Could you _please_ stop allowing Sasuke the pleasure---" Sasuke snorted "---of twisting your words around to make it sound like we're gay?" Neji pleaded, shooting another glare at Sasuke, who bit his lower lip so he would stop laughing.

"Okay, _anyways,_" Shikamaru interupted, "we've got to plan a prank to play on the girls."

"Why is that?" Naruto asked dumbly. (A/N: Hahaha...moron.)

Everyone else rolled their eyes. "It's obvious they pranked me, since Neji's 'special eyes' saw Ino's head bobbing up and down in the forest. And, it's obvious they pranked Neji and Naruto. Sakura must have rubbed the blood from her nose on Naruto's clothing, and Hinata must have placed it everywhere."

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled in agreement, pumping his fist into the air. "They made me run around naked!"

"You still had swimming trunks, idiot," Sasuke muttered, "except you're so stupid, you forgot to put those on."

Naruto blushed lightly from embarrassment and quickly lowered his fist, laughing slowly. "Let's just head to the main room," Neji suggested, leading the way.

They all walked to the main room and sat down in a circle. Sasuke decided to speak first. "So, we're going with Shikamaru's prank with the orange juice. Is everyone okay with that?" Without even waiting for anyone to answer his question, he continued, "We won't be able to choose who it is, unless we watch them carefully. When the girl we want to prank says she's going to have a bath, we need to quickly replace the water with orange juice. We can, of course, drain the water first, since all of them have their own bathrooms in each of their rooms."

"Good," Naruto cut in quickly before Neji could continue, "so we'll play that prank on Tenten. And just to make Neji's day better, he can be the one to spy on her and see when she wants to take the bath."

"I'm not interested in that stuff," Neji said stiffly.

"That's right. But if it was Naruto, it would be different," Shikamaru joked.

"Shut up!"

"Anyways, for Hinata, we should replace her drink with some alchoholic beverage," Sasuke suggested. "Hey, Neji, you live with her. What drink does she tend to avoid?"

Neji stroked his chin in thought. "She's always avoided tequila," he thought out loud, "but I'm not quite sure what would happen if she drunk it. Hinata always drank wine on special occasions. Perhaps we should start off with something small in the beginning, though. Just spike her drink or something."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto exclaimed in agreement. "Now we've just got to deal with Ino and Sakura. OH, I've got an idea for Sakura!"

"Spill, stupid," Sasuke said.

Naruto shot his friend a dirty look, then brightened up again. "Well, the thing is, we---"

Suddenly, a randomly placed truck zoomed right past their cabin, causing even the author to not be able to hear Naruto's flagitious plan. (A/N: -snort- Hahahaha...I'm so smart. Oh, and I do know what the prank is. I'm just not telling you guys yet. -smiles innocently-)

"Is it a plan?" he finished after the truck passed.

The three boys looked at each other, then slowly, they nodded. "Surprisingly enough, I think that would work. Now we just need a prank for Ino," Shikamaru said, narrowing his eyes in thought. "Hey, I have an excellent idea."

"Well?" the three friends said in unison, moving closer to hear.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A/N: -snorts again- Sorry, I can't help but skipping to dinner now. I know what this prank is too, I'm just keeping you in suspense.)

Dinner was much more lively than lunch was. Ino and Sakura (even though she was a little creeped out after finding out Lee had a crush on her) desperately wanted to congratulate Lee for nailing Neji in soccer earlier. Hinata, despite the fact that she was shy, couldn't help but smile and shake Lee's hand as well, though inwardly she felt slightly guilty. Tenten patted Lee on the back and said she would gladly help Lee with anything.

The boys, on the other hand, didn't seem as happy. _Seem_, being the operative word. Inside, they were as lively as popping popcorn. The idea of the girls begging for their mercy fancied them so much, that they hardly ate. Well, that was until ramen was served. Naruto jumped up and pushed everyone out of the line. _Everyone_, including a ramen-loving Choji.

"Uh oh," Naruto gulped, smiling nervously. "H-Hey, you can go in front of me."

Choji, however, flashed Naruto an angry look. "You pushed me out of the food line. The FOOD LINE! _Nobody_ pushes me out of the way of food, got it?"

"I think I lost my appetite," Naruto whined, turning to go back to his table. Choji happily skipped to the front of the line (since everyone else was pushed down), and took as much ramen as his bowl could hold. When Naruto slipped back into his seat, he turned to Sasuke and muttered, "Could you get me a bowl? Please?"

Sasuke snorted and turned his nose up. "Get it yourself."

Naruto looked to his other friends, who showed no signs of helping him either. "My friends are so jealous of my looks that they won't even lift a finger to help me."

Snort. Three snorts, to be exact. As Naruto sulked, an unexpected figure walked up to their table with a steaming bowl of ramen. "H-Here," she stuttered quietly, placing the bowl in front of Naruto.

Naruto's neck snapped up and he saw Hinata, lightly blushing. "Hinata?"

Said girl quickly looked into Naruto's eyes, then away, and nodded, still blushing. "I overheard you a-asking for ramen," she said.

Neji looked over to the other side of the room to see Hinata's table there. "Overheard from the other side of the room?" he pried.

"Why are you so nosy?" Tenten piped from behind Hinata, frowning. Everyone there was startled from her sudden appearance (Hinata jumped forward a bit), since none of them noticed Tenten sneaking up from behind her friend.

"Why are you even here?" Neji retorted casually, propping his hands up on the table.

"Why is that any of your business?" Sakura sneered, jumping out from behind Naruto, who almost spat his noodles out in shock.

Sasuke scoffed. "This coming from people who randomly decide to butt into our private conversations we have at our table?"

"Hinata was just trying to be nice!" Ino yelled, popping out from behind Hinata, who was close to a heart attack by then. "Why do you guys have to be such jerks?"

"We aren't being jerks," Shikamaru stated in a matter-of-fact tone that further infuriated Ino.

Tenten glared at Neji then cut in, her sarcasm on full blast. "Oh yeah, and there was no way that Hinata could have decided that Naruto wanted ramen after he dragged his half-assed body back to your table. Jesus Christ, get a life you guys!"

"Half-assed?" Naruto screamed, offended. "I am not half-assed!"

"He's right," Sasuke snorted. "He's full-assed."

"You're supposed to be on my side!" Naruto complained, gulping down shovel-fulls of ramen.

Shikamaru decided to break the tension and make a comment that was completely unnecessary, and that would surely throw earth off its course. "You know, you're actually pretty hot," he said, smirking.

Ino flushed. "W-What? You can't just s-say something like that so randomly! T-That's completely stupid."

"And?" Shikamaru inquired, his smirk noticably growing.

"And," Ino repeated like a robot, "and you have no right to say anything like that!"

"Yeah!" Tenten cut in, placing her hands on her hips in mock-seriousness. "Because Ino's got a boy who loves her! Those delicate brown eyes that understand everything---"

"And that caring personality, yet dark and mysterious personality that makes your knees buckle," Sakura continued, clasping her hands.

Hinata caught on quickly and decided to finish off the plan. "And those muscular arms that could sweep you off the floor and carry you Never Never Land."

The three girls gave an enamoured sigh then looked at Ino, who looked baffled. "Sakura, I don't think you should be crushing on my lover. What would your boyfriend say?"

Sasuke notiably stiffened when he heard that word. Not only was she being all lovey-dovey about some other guy, but she already had a boyfriend? _Impossible! _Sasuke thought angrily. _She's...she's too ugly to already have a boyfriend! Her forehead is so big, and who would want to date someone who has pink hair? What an obscene idea. _"That's pretty pathetic," Sasuke said smugly. "Having your friends pretend that you have a boyfriend in attempts to make some loser who might be crushing on you jealous? Like that Rock Lee kid, perhaps?"

Sakura was taken back. "I-I do have a boyfriend!" she insisted. "I'll call him up right now and you can talk to him!" She wipped out her pink iPhone (A/N: I know there isn't a pink iPhone (I don't think) but she is rich, after all...-grumbles about wanting money- XD) and pushed one of the speed dial buttons. In a matter of seconds, the phone was ringing in her ear. Unfortunately, he did not pick up. Instead, Sakura left a message. "Hey, Akira-honey."

"She sounds like they're already married," Neji muttered, receiving a swift kick from under the table, courtesy of Sasuke.

"This is Sakura, of course. I just want to know how you are, and talk to you. Call me back as soon as you can!" After speaking, she flipped her phone closed and sighed. "He can't answer the phone at the moment, but the second he calls back, expect me at your door."

"Careful," Sasuke warned, "or Neji might rape you."

"At least I'm not crushing on----JESUS CHRIST!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Neji, there is nothing wrong with loving Jesus," he said sternly. "Now if you'll excuse us, we will be retreating back to our cabin."

The four of them stood up, with Neji limping on one leg, and walked back to their cabin. On the way, Neji snapped, "Why did you kick me back there?"

"Because I am _not_ crushing on Sakura," he replied.

"Why did you assume he was going to say Sakura?" Shikamaru asked slyly.

Sasuke let out a bitter 'hn' and shut the door behind them all.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The Next Morning)

Hinata and Ino woke up bright and early to head for singing. They resented how it was so early, but had no choice in the matter. Chie and Aya were there as well. There weren't many boys there, except for Naruto, Kiba, and one other guy. Aya was flirting with Naruto once again, but Hinata did nothing to stop her. "It's okay, Ino," she said softly, pulling away from them. "If Aya likes him, I shouldn't do anything to embarrass her or anything like that.

Ino tossed her hair around and walked up to the stage to sing. Kurenai thought it would be brilliant if Aya and Ino sang together. Ino was shocked by Aya's beautiful voice, and tried her best to out-sing her. "You shouldn't push your voice to notes that you can't reach," Kurenai had said, causing Ino to turn bright red. Naruto was laughing in the background.

Breakfast went by quickly, with nothing interesting happening. After Tenten returned from volleyball a little earlier than scheduled, she sniffed her armpit and wrinkled her nose. "Might as well have a bath," she said to herself, opening the door to her bedroom. She undressed and put her white robe on, then stepped into the bathroom.

Neji, who was staring at her, but managed to look away when she unclapsed her bra (thinking it was rude to stare), gave the signal that she was entering the bathroom. _She looks beautiful with her hair down,_ he thought, continuing to watch the closed door.

Meanwhile, Tenten removed her robe and stepped into the shower. She turned it on without looking at the juice already dripping from the showerhead. Tenten closed her eyes, turned her head up, and parted her lips slightly like she normally did. Only this time...it was different. _What? This doesn't taste like water... It tastes like..._Five seconds later, she screamed as loud as she could, almost shaking the whole cabin and the ground around it. "ORANGE JUICE?" She threw her robe on quickly, roughly tying the rope around her waist, and ran to the main room, where her friends were playing card games.

"Holy---what happened to you?" Sakura gasped, dropping her cards.

Ino quickly glanced at Sakura's dropped cards, then up at her friend again. "Tenten, are you okay?" Hinata asked.

Tenten was fuming, fire burning in her eyes. "Do I _look_ okay, Hinata?" she enunciated through her gritted teeth. "I just bathed in _orange juice_. Orange juice! Who the hell---" She paused half-way through her sentence, then quickly ran towards the closed curtains. She peered outside and spotted Neji sneaking away (A/N: His friends were hiding behind trees. They were all pretending to be spies...you know, hiding behind objects and fixing their shapes? Yeah...). "NEJI HYUUGA!" Tenten screeched. "DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?"

Neji looked at his hand, then quickly threw the carton of orange juice into the bushes. "T-Tenten, I---no, it wasn't---okay, yeah but---let me explain!"

Tenten opened the window and leaped out, chasing after Neji, who was sprinting as quickly as he could. Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru watched their poor friend, then quickly snapped out of their gaze. "Shikamaru, sneak in now," Naruto hissed, and Shikamaru nodded.

Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were all standing right beside the window, watching Tenten screaming and running after Neji. Shikamaru slipped in through the door and into Ino's room. It only took him a few seconds of rummaging through her cabinets to find what he was looking for. "Diary," he read before stuffing it into his large jacket pocket. "Perfect."

"I'm going to get my camera!" Sakura exclaimed from the main room.

Shikamaru let a breath of relief out. _At least she'll have to go to her room._

"Okay," Ino replied. "It's in my room. I borrowed it earlier today to take pictures of myself."

Shikamaru slapped his forehead. _I have to get out, fast!_ He whipped out a walkie-talkie and called into it. "Prince of Stupid, can you hear me?"

"Don't call me that, Lieutenant Pineapple!" Naruto cried from the other side. "And don't interupt! I can't hear Tenten yelling and Neji's pleading."

"Sakura is going to come in here and discover us."

"And?"

"And if you don't give a distraction, I'll tell her it was your idea to prank Tenten."

"It was not!" Naruto defended.

Shikamaru smirked. "You wanted all the credit for the prank, remember? It was all your idea. I might just let it slip if---"

"Okay, okay! I surrender. I'll get a distraction."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What do you plan on doing for a distraction?"

The blond smirked. A split-second later, Naruto pushed Sasuke forwards, causing the boy to fall into view and onto the grass. Sasuke stood up, turned around, and growled at Naruto. "I LOVE YOU, SAKURA!" Naruto yelled in his best Sasuke-like voice, which sounded exactly like Sasuke...with his voice cracking due to puberty.

Nonetheless, it fooled everyone else, much to Sasuke's dismay. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata looked down to see Sasuke standing there like an idiot. Even Tenten and Neji stopped moving, and directed their gazes at Sasuke. "I'm going to frickin' kill you, Naruto," he hissed under his breath.

Naruto picked up the walkie-talkie and pushed the button. "Lieutenant Pineapple, this is Prince of Awesomeness. Duck-Ass has graciously volunteered to be the distraction. You're free to run. We'll meet up with White-Eyed Beauty later on."

"Naruto, stop making everyone's names gay except for yours," Shikamaru said. "Yours is Prince of Stupid, Neji's is Milk Prodigy, and Sasuke's is Hot Wheels©." **(1)**

"Oh yeah, and that's not gay," Naruto muttered. "Just hurry up and let's go."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few minutes of waiting for Neji to return, the door finally swung open. Neji stood there, battered and bruised, his eyebrow twitching as he walked forwards. Naruto suddenly smiled and jumped to his feet. "Dude, I totally forgot it's your birthday!"

Neji glared at him for a few seconds, then turned away. "I'm going to wash up."

Shikamaru stood up and blocked Neji's way to his bedroom. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"And why not?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tenten used a cloth to wipe her skin, deciding to take a bath later in Hinata's room. "I'm just going to dry my hair and tie it up," she told her friends.

"I don't think you can," Hinata said slowly, her eyes widening.

"Why not?" Sakura inquired.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(At the exact same time in both cabins)

Shikamaru and Hinata brought their watches up and showed everyone. It read 12:07.

And so, together in beautiful harmony, they chorused...

"SHIT!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Ino exclaimed, running around the room frantically.

The front door burst open, revealing a panting Shikamaru. "Where the hell is my shoe?"

"Why would it be here?" Ino shrieked. Before Shikamaru could answer, Ino stuffed an object in his mouth. "Don't even answer that question!"

"Why did you shove a thong in my mouth?" Shikamaru asked, though because it was muffled, it sounded more like, "Waa did ooo sooguh a tong in aii aaouu?"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji barged in the door at the same time, tumbling onto the floor. "Shikamaru, hurry up! We're late already!" Sasuke snarled, pushing himself off of Naruto. "Get your knee out of my ear, Neji." Silence.

"I'm not even going to ask," Tenten muttered, turning away.

Sakura took a quick picture of the scene with her digital camera and placed it back in her pocket. "Why is there a thong in your mouth?" Neji asked, standing up.

"ENOUGH QUESTIONS! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE. LET'S GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Everyone turned to the source of the voice to see a blushing Hinata. "I-I mean...we had better hurry...right?"

More silence. "Yeaaaahhh," Naruto said slowly, though he admired the fact that Hinata was finally able to speak out. "Let's go."

And so, the eight of them rushed out towards the main cabin, preparing themselves for the consequences for being late.

* * *

Okay, I finally got this chapter up! I was inspired, but then my inspiration was lost again...

But I forced myself to write this chapter, and actually had fun with it! I hope you enjoyed it. I don't know if it was funny or not...I hope it was.

**(1) **"Yours is Prince of Stupid, Neji's is Milk Prodigy, and Sasuke's is Hot Wheels." (Shikamaru)

Okay, don't give me that look. This is the reason why I chose those names (they are supposed to be stupid):

Naruto: Self-explanatory XD Don't get me wrong, I love Naruto. He's just so fun to poke fun at.

Neji: Neji's eyes are white/lavender, like milk. And he's a prodigy. Therefore, "Milk Prodigy". It's supposed to be gay.

Sasuke: AHAHAHA I had a lot of fun thinking of his name. It just came to me, though. I chose it because his extra pupils (if you would call them that) look like wheels on the Sharingan. And so I thought about it, and it just clicked in my head. Hot Wheels ©, as you probably know, is a brand of toy cars. Oh geez...this shows how bored I am XD

The next chapter will be up...errrr...I dunno when. My parents are planning a whole bunch of things, but I'll try to update it! My other story is almost done, so the updates will be more frequent for this story after that (...I hope)


	7. Food Fight!

I am EXTREMELY sorry this took so long to get up! I'm such a hypocrite! I planned to update constantly on my vacation (which I just got back from), but the internet connection was crap and it didn't work! I couldn't upload anything! Argggg...I'm so angry at myself.

I promise the next chapter will be up sooner. If it isn't, I'm going to update two chapters next week (before September 4th). If I don't, I swear I'll fail my first test when school starts. Seriously, I'll do that to punish myself. And I'll do twenty…painful…pushups… I hate pushups. I can barely do twenty good ones in one minute. I'm going to fail P.E. because I suck at pushups AND running long distance.

I also apologize for the lack of humour (in my opinion) in this chapter. I just couldn't find places to sneak good stuff in, but there will be more humour (hopefully…I'm still not used to this humour writing) in the next chapter.

And arg, I forgot to add the disclaimer for the previous chapters.

_**Disclaimer:**_ If I owned Naruto, would I be writing a fanfiction? Nooo, I wouldn't. So, no, I don't own.

* * *

The hall was silent, and Tenten swore she could take out the kunai she kept under her pillow and cut the tension with it. Their usual seats with Lee and Choji were now filled by some other teenagers they haven't seen before. The boys glanced over at their table, to see it was empty and pushed together with another vacant table. The other teens stared up at the eight of them with hawk-like eyes, waiting for any of them to make a move. And there she was, Tsunade, standing in front, tapping her foot impatiently. 

"Lunch is at twelve o'clock sharp," she said seriously, "not 12:10." Her crossed arms showed no mercy for any of them.

"We're really sorry," Hinata said instantly, bowing low and squeezing her eyes shut. She didn't move back up, and stood there, bent over like a sea-sick sailor. "W-We lost track of time and didn't realize it was lunch already." Her eyes darted up to see the rest of the eight, who looked unsure, but nodded subtly. "We will accept any punishment you have."

There was a loud stomping sound then it suddenly stopped. Hinata stood straight back up and they all looked at Anko, who was winded. "Don't be so hard on them," she panted, bending down and placing her hands on her knees. "They were just ten minutes late. It isn't like they brought Jiraya here or anything like that."

Kurenai came jogging towards them, her hair messed up like she was thrown into a tornado. "I'm so sorry, Tsunade. I tried to keep her locked up in the closet, but she practically morphed into air and slipped through the cracks of the door."

"Actually, I took the vent system," Anko corrected, "but that way sounds much cooler. Anyways, no punishment. Let's just eat and be happy!"

The eight kids wasted no time scurrying into the large, already formed line for the food. "Man, I thought we were going to get roasted!" Naruto whispered to his friends, who agreed.

The moment they got their food, the eight of them took sides at the table: the girls on one side, and the boys on the other. "So, Tenten," Ino said casually, just loud enough for the guys listen, "how's your brother and his girlfriend?"

"Broke up," Tenten stated, tossing a chicken nugget into her mouth. "He called me late last night and told me. My mom was pretty pissed; she wants him to get married soon, but he's only eighteen. I'm safe until both of my older siblings are taken."

Sakura laughed. "It's sort of like Ino's situation, then, because her parents are trying to set her up with Daiki." She glanced over at Ino, who made a sour face. "Don't worry, Ino, I'm sure you'll get out of it."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and dropped his fork onto his plate. "I thought this Daiki person has delicate brown eyes, a personality that makes your knees buckle, and muscular arms that could sweep you off the floor?"

"And carry you to Never Never Land," Naruto added, rice spilling out of his mouth.

"Ew," Tenten muttered, staring at the rice raining down like snow in a blizzard.

Sakura was flabbergasted. "I---no she---Daiki---when did you---he's wonderful and---" She continued sputtering out nonsense, hoping it would form a sentence.

Ino covered Sakura's mouth and sighed. "N-No, just stop." She looked up at Sasuke and frowned. "Fine, you caught us. Daiki Susume is a royal jerk that my parents keep trying to set me up with. I have no idea why, though. I'm only sixteen."

"Wait," Shikamaru said, "you're sixteen? I thought you were going to grade eleven."

"I know," Ino scoffed. "That's what happens when your parents force education on you so you're skipping grades. I'm home-schooled, anyways, so it doesn't really matter."

"Not that she's any good at school," Sakura muttered. Ino shot her a glare.

Naruto looked at Hinata and directly asked her, "Are all of you like that?"

Hinata nodded. "Sakura, Ino, and I are sixteen, going to grade eleven. Tenten is going to grade twelve, and she's seventeen. She's preparing for university, and she'll have to go away for that."

"Same with us," Neji stated, surprised. "Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru are going to grade eleven, but they're sixteen too. I'm seventeen, and preparing for university next year as well."

Kankuro, who was walking by, stopped at their table and grinned. "Hey, ladies!" he said slyly. "How about we exchange some phone numbers?"

Ino was the only one who seemed to be paying attention, but she scoffed and turned her head. "No way, Kankuro. Not on your life."

The boy frowned in a playful way, winked, and walked away.

There was a long silence. Whenever someone's mouth was empty of food, they would shove another mouthful in so they wouldn't have to speak. Odd and uncomfortable looks were tossed back and forth as Hinata kicked her feet nervously under the table. "This is ridiculous," Sakura sighed, dropping her spoonful of rice and folding her hands together on the table. "We're immaturely avoiding conversation by barbarically stuffing our mouths."

"Speak like a normal person," Tenten mumbled, cramming three more chicken nuggets into her mouth.

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Don't speak with your mouth full; it's uncouth. And just because you're failing english doesn't mean I have to lower my vocabulary."

Tenten decided not to answer, and instead, downed a glass of milk. Hinata, however, agreed and offered a topic. "So, why did you guys decide to come to this summer camp?"

Naruto slammed his fist onto the table, gulping the last of his rice down. "Well, like I said before, I wanted to go to Disneyland, but my parents said I was being a pest, so they sent me here instead. It isn't like I _want_ them to nag me either."

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered boredly (A/N: Is that a word?). "I came here because Naruto dragged me. Once he mentioned it to my mom, she said," he changed his voice so it was now higher, "'I think that's a wonderful idea, Sasuke! You and your other friends should all go!'"

"That sounded like you were finally hit with puberty," Sakura jabbed.

Before Sasuke could insult her back, Hinata cut in again. "Uhhh, so, what about you, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru, who looked as though he was about to fall asleep in his soup, glanced up again and regained his composure. "As Sasuke said, he mother thought it would be a _wonderful_ idea if all of us went." He wiped his forehead and then looked at the girls again. "Why are you guys here? Trying to get away from Daiki?"

"Yes," Ino said quickly.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Actually, Hinata heard from her dad that Neji was coming here, and she told Ino, who thought it was, as she said, a great idea to get away from Daiki. Then they told Sakura and I, and here we are."

Sasuke and Shikamaru shot Neji a death glare. "_You're_ the reason the girls are here? _You're _the one who clued them in?" Sasuke demanded.

"It was Naruto's fault for even bringing this camp thing up."

"It was not!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing a finger at Neji. Unfortunately, Naruto was holding a fry in his hand, and therefore flung it.

Neji twitched. Then, he twitched again. Sasuke snorted. Shikamaru gave an interested smile. Naruto threw his hands over his mouth and gasped. "I didn't mean to do that!" he shouted.

Frown. "Well, I didn't mean to throw the mashed potatoes at your face either, so I guess we're even."

"What mashed potatoes?"

"These ones." And in one swift movement, Neji smashed a handful of mashed potatos into Naruto's confused face.

Sasuke covered his mouth with one hand and laughed with disbelief. Shikamaru's grin grew even larger. Neji and Naruto both stood up and faced each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Hinata quickly scrambled out of her seat and stood between the two, her hands stretched out to divide them. "W-Wait," she ordered weakly, "we don't want to cause anything." Neji glared at her and she immediately backed off, running back to the food line to get more water to drink.

"You're going to pay for that," Naruto warned, narrowing his eyes.

"I'd be able to," Neji said smugly, "since my family is still richer than yours."

"Ooooo," Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Shikamaru, and Sasuke all taunted in unison.

Naruto slowly spun around so his back faced Neji. He picked up a handful of Sakura's rice (she went to protest, but Tenten and Ino stopped her, smirking), swerved around, and threw it at Neji. Being the genius he was (and the fact that Naruto did a horrible job at covering up his attack), he ducked.

"HINATA, DUCK!" Sakura screeched, standing up and pointing to her friend.

Hinata, who was just arriving from behind Neji, ducked as well. The rice landed on Aya, who stood up, furious. "Haha, you missed," Neji teased, standing up again.

Hinata followed his actions and stood up as well, breathing a sigh of relief. "WHO THREW THAT?" Aya howled, stomping up to their table. She pushed Hinata to the side, causing Hinata to lose her balance. She held onto the cup for dear life, but the water could not be contained. It splashed out of the cup, flew in the air like it had money on it, and landed on Aya.

With her hair soaking, she screamed, "YOU ARE SO DEAD!" The overdone mascara ran down her cheeks, making her look like a zombie. Aya walked over to the Sand Siblings' table, picked up a fajita (Kankuro whined that it was his, and received two solid bonks to the head from his siblings), and chucked it as hard as she could at Hinata, who caught it straight in the face.

Soon, the whole cabin burst out in the food fight. Choji was in the middle of the whole thing, crying, "Don't waste the food!" But when he realized he couldn't stop the madness, he began crawling around on the floor, grabbing the food that didn't seem dirty, then ate it.

Kiba, Naruto, and Kankuro gave war-like yells, jumped onto a table, and relentlessly aimed and fired at the weakest links (including Hinata, Chie, and Aya). Ino, Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten each turned a table down and formed a protective square. "We have to watch out for aerial attacks," Ino yelled over the screams.

"Ino, it's a friggin food fight! Nobody throws food at the ground! All attacks are aerial!" Tenten stated, using her tray to block an incoming slice of pizza.

"WHO THE FUCK THREW A BOWLING BALL AT ME?" Sasuke roared, jumping out of the way from the said object. He looked to his left to see Kiba, who was snickering and secretly trying to run away from Sasuke. "YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" Sasuke yelled, charging at Kiba.

"Stop the unyouthfulness!" Lee hollered to those who would listen to him, which was...well, no one.

Shikamaru emerged from the crowd, his shirt painted with ketchup and mustard, and a piece of bologna hanging from his left ear. "This is so troublesome," he complained, ducking behind Sasuke so the hot dog hit him instead.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"

The voice was like a bomb, leaving only silence after it. Everyone, still holding their ammunition, turned on the spot to see a fuming Tsunade. Her chest heaved as she growled. Everyone tried their best not to laugh and the bouncing breasts.

"Who started this food fight?" Silence. "WHO?"

Aya and Chie, who looked like they were dipped in rotten food and juices, began fake-crying. "It was _her_," Chie said, pointing to Hinata, who was as stunned as everyone else in the cabin.

"Hinata Hyuuga started this?" Tsunade repeated suspiciously. She recalled flipping through the profiles of each teen for the past few nights, even before the camp officially started. Hinata was stated to be shy, kind, and always staying in the boundaries and following the rules. "I highly doubt this, Chie."

"Miss Tsunade," Aya said in a pleading voice, "she dumped water on me. I swear it! You can ask anyone here. And besides, how can you be sure that wasn't a cover up?"

"Hinata didn't start it," Tenten barked.

Chie raised an eyebrow with interest. "Yes, let's let her friends stand up for her. It isn't like they'd lie to defend her."

"Maybe you started it," Ino sneered.

"She did not!" Aya retorted.

Sakura threw her hands up in a girly manner and mocked, "'Yes, let's let her friends stand up for her. It isn't like they'd lie to defend her."'

"N-No, I did dump water on her by accident," Hinata confessed, her voice drowning in the end.

The seven others looked at Hinata with disbelief. How could she turn herself in so easily? "Because Aya pushed her!" Sakura exclaimed.

"So, I will repeat: who started the food fight?" Tsunade's tone showed she was growing agitated with the passing seconds.

The boys looked between each other. They could be turned in at any second, especially since the girls didn't particularly like them anyways. Tenten opened her mouth and closed it a few times, and Tsunade caught it all. "Tenten Irikuchi," she said sternly, "if there is something you would like to say, please stop gaping like a fish and do so." Tenten was insulted, but gave no answer. "Fine, since Hinata Hyuuga is the only one I have proof of that started the fight, she will clean this up all by hers---"

"Us too!" Tsunade directed her attention to Ino, whose mouth was still open from speaking. "We started the food fight, Miss Tsunade. We'll help her clean up."

Aya and Chie smirked at Ino, Sakura, and Tenten. "They're giving themselves away!" Aya whispered with excitement. "That'll teach them!"

"We did it as well," Neji said, standing forwards. "We also started the food fight." He gestured to his friends, who nodded.

Tsunade surveyed their expressions, then after a few seconds, sighed and rubbed her temples. "Fine," she said finally, "the eight of you will clean up the mess hall. The rest of you, out, out, OUT!" She spun on her heels and walked down the hall, slamming the door closed at the very end after she entered it.

Aya and Chie sneered jealousy as they stomped out of the main cabin, leading the rest of the teens out. Temari gave the girls a thumbs up as she passed by with her brothers and a girl with extremely long, black hair (who they assumed was their last cabin mate) Lee and Choji smiled as they walked by. Kiba applauded and exclaimed how thrilling that was, and Shino gave an acknowledging nod.

Sasuke made the first move; he sighed, took his watch off, and placed it on the far table next to the hall way. Everyone else, grabbed either a wet cloth from the sink, a mop, or a dustpan. Quietly, they walked over to different parts of the room and began cleaning. This occurred for a while, until someone interrupted the silence.

"Why did you take the hit for the food fight?" Shikamaru asked softly, still concentrating on wiping down the tables. "You could have just turned us in."

"One," Ino said, gyrating her hand and the cloth on the table, "it wasn't actually your fault. Naruto accidentally threw a fry at Neji, and---no, actually it was Neji's fault."

"Two," Sakura listed, ignoring Ino's self-correction, "by doing a good deed for you guys, your conscience will make you feel more guilty the next time you prank us."

"Fat chance," Naruto snorted. "But thanks anyways, I guess. At least we only have to do half the work."

"You're welcome," Sakura murmured sarcastically, following Tenten and her mop with her dustpan.

Sasuke smirked. "We never thanked you, so I have no idea why you're saying that."

Sakura fumed. "You are such a---"

"A what?" Sasuke repeated, a smirk spreading on his face. "Are you going to finish that sentence?"

Before Sakura could respond, her cheeks were being pinched by Tenten and Ino. "Hey, forehead girl," Ino said, frowning, "you can't cheat on Akira. That's so naughty."

"You can't even spell naughty," Tenten teased. "But the pig is right: no crushing on other boys when you're already dating!"

"N-o…no wait, n-a-o…arg, damn it!"

"Ino, it's n-a-u-g-h-t-y," Hinata corrected, smiling sheepishly. "B-But," she turned her attention to a flushed Sakura, a grinning Tenten, and a confused Ino, "it's not nice to tease Sakura, even if she does---"

"NOT! DOES NOT!" Sakura screeched, slapping Tenten and Ino's hands away from her face. "I-I-I like---love Akira, not that two-faced, gay bastard!"

"Whatever," Ino, Tenten, and even Hinata sang together, continuing their chores.

_I don't like Sasuke. I don't like Sasuke. Pshaw, what are they thinking? I don't like Sasuke! Hahahaha! _Sakura continued to think this way for a while.

**You so like him**, Inner Sakura teased. **You're just in denial. **

_I'm you_, Sakura countered, _therefore you like him too._

**Duh I like him; he's really hot. **

_Shut up!_

**Don't talk to yourself. It's creepy. **

"I AM NOT TALKING TO MYSELF, NOR AM I IN DENIAL ABOUT LIKING SASUKE!" Sakura screamed out loud. Everyone's heads darted to her direction. She laughed nervously. "Did I say that out loud?

**Busted!**

_Fuck you._

"In denial about liking me, huh?" Sasuke repeated, smirking. "That's pretty cute, for a nerd." He sauntered over to her, held her chin up with his index finger, and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "But just letting you know, I'm not interested."

"That totally contradicts his actions," Tenten said loudly to Neji, who nodded. "It's obvious they like each other."

Sakura's eyes widened as she shot a death glare at her friend. "And I guess asking for Neji's pictures from Hinata means you like him too?"

"I was just going to use them as my new dartboard!"

"Mmhmm…"

"Well," Tenten said, trying to think up an insult, "shut up!"

"Ooooo, brilliant comeback," Neji said with fake awe. "But what's this about getting my pictures?"

"It's true!" Hinata piped up, trying to defend Tenten. "She was going to use them as her new dartboard. She already has the picture of you from Christmas last year beneath a few darts!"

Ino grinned. "You're just hoping she doesn't say anything Na---"

Without even thinking the plan through, Sakura bent down and swept the ground under Ino, causing her to fall flat on her butt. Sakura carried through her low attack, and swept Shikamaru and Naruto down as well. Naruto was the first to fall, since his only attempt to stay standing was flailing his arms around aimlessly. Shikamaru grabbed onto the nearest table, however, Ino slapped her hand down on his, hoping her sweaty hands could grip it. Shikamaru cried out in pain and fell to the ground, with Ino falling on him in a split-second. "What was that for, forehead?" Ino exclaimed, standing up and brushing herself off as though that would make everything forget the embarrassing situation. Tenten, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, Neji, and Naruto merely grinned suggestively.

"Nothing," Sakura said in a warning, yet innocent tone. _The boys are obviously enjoying the fact that our secrets are being released freely. If we stop, they won't have much to attack us with later. _

"Are you finished cleaning?" The demanding, bold voice was easily familiar to the eight pairs of ears. Tsunade stood there, with her big---ahem, stood there, with her hands on her hips, her narrowed eyes scanning the cleaned ground and tables.

"Yes, Miss Tsunade," Neji answered, professionally throwing his cloth into the sink from a few meters away.

_Show off,_ all of the girls thought at the same time.

"Very good. You may all leave now."

Everyone nodded and placed their stuff in a corner and got ready to head off. "Just a sec," Sasuke said, walking over to the table next to Tsunade, "I need to get my watch."

He grabbed his watch and began putting it on slowly, as though trying to agitate his impatient friends. Sakura looked at her friends, and Ino and Tenten gave the thumbs up (Hinata looked unsure, but Sakura was sure deep, deep, _deep_ down, Hinata wanted her to.) Revenge.

The pink haired girl pranced up to Sasuke, who was standing in front of Tsunade. With one quick movement, she pushed Sasuke towards the two, large, mountain-like breasts, and he fell right into them.

"S-Sa-SASUKE UCHIHA?" Tsunade roared, pushing him away.

Before Tsunade realized it was Sakura's fault, the pink haired girl slipped into the shadows and rushed out with her friends.

"You aren't going to help your boyfriend?" Ino and Tenten teased. Sakura scoffed.

Naruto slapped both hands over his mouth to stop the laughter from bursting out, but he was unable to move. So, Neji grabbed Naruto's legs, and Shikamaru grabbed his feet, and together, the two boys ran out, carrying their hysterical friend.

Sasuke attempted running away, but he slipped on the wet floor and fell to the ground. He tried to get up and continue running, but Tsunade caught his collar and dragged him to the hallway. "NOOOOOOO!" was the last thing heard before the door closed.

* * *

Well, nothing to write here. Hope you enjoyed it…-sweatdrop- 


	8. The Hike

By the way, all of the girls have inner selves, because of Sakura.

And OH.MY.GOD. I put the last chapter up too quickly, and I totally forgot to give **MissynML** (ML's idea, but Missy rocks!) credit for the idea of pushing Sasuke into Tsunade's breasts. Though I didn't use it as a prank, I still must give credit!

And by the way, I'm going to be answering reviews here now, starting now. If your review doesn't require an answer, I won't say anything. If you ask a question or say something required answering, I'll post my response here. I just have a feeling that you guys might be getting annoyed because I keep responding to you. Forgive me T.T

And I'm really pissed at the moment. Killed on the inside. And it's not only because school is starting soon...-cough- Don't ask. I had to rant to a whole bunch of people, but I'm good now...sort of...not really... I'm still pissed.

**There is a note at the end that you have to read. **

_**Disclaimer:**_ In Losernese, Alusy means 'Does not own Naruto.' -.o

* * *

Hinata rolled over in the bed sheets, tangling herself like a fly in a spider web. The morning sun wasn't enough to get her up, since she refused to get up. "Blinds," she murmured, throwing her face into the pillow to shield herself from the incoming light. Though the maids in the Hyuuga estate would make sure the blinds were closed, as to not disturb Hinata's sleep, there were no maids at the camp. She was sure the clothing Ino laid out last night for her to wear already fell to the floor, since her body was spread out on the entire bed. 

"Remember to get up early tomorrow, Hinata!" Sakura's voice rang in the shy girl's memory. Why did she have to get up early again? Hinata pushed the idea to the back of her head and covered herself with the blankets again. "The hike is bright and early tomorrow! We don't want to be left behind." Ah, yes, that was the reason. Wait, the hike? Bright and early?

Hinata shot up, her hair wildly pointing in every direction as if telling her what she should do first to get ready. "The hike!" She jumped out of bed and desperate tried to locate the clothing underneath the mess of blankets piled together.

Hinata threw everything, even the things she didn't need, in her bag and got changed. She quickly went to the bathroom, then, hoping she had everything she needed, the heir raced out.

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"You're here," Kakashi said simply, flipping to the next page of his perverted book.

"I'm really sorry," Hinata panted, bending down to catch her breath. "I can't normally get up early, and I just remembered a few minutes ago that the hike is today, and I couldn't find any---"

"It's fine," Asuma said. "We don't leave for the hike until one."

"One pm?" Hinata repeated, hoping maybe it was a mistake.

"Yep."

Hinata dug around in her sweatshirt pocket and found her watch. It read 10:42. "There's no reason for you to be spazzing," Naruto teased. He gave the Milly face **(1) **and laughed with his friends.

"There's no reason for you to be such a bastard," Sakura retorted. "At least Hinata has some dignity."

"And could that toilet paper stuck to her shoe possibly enhance her dignity?" Sasuke jabbed.

_Please, please, PLEASE let Sasuke be joking! _Hinata hoped, biting her lower lip. Everyone, including the boys, looked down at Hinata's shoes. Sure enough, there was a long piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of her shoes. _Kill me now. Please._

_There goes the pride of the Hyuuga clan: down the toilet, _Neji thought, slapping his forehead. _Hehehe…more toilet humour. Toilet paper, down the toilet, hahaha---no, I'm just going to stop. _(A/N: -coughlosercough-)

Snickers spread around the crowd, and soon, a loud burst of laughter was lead by Chie, Aya, and two other boys that weren't known that much by the group. The one with brown, layered hair up to his shoulders was crazy and hyper, and always had either a compliment for important people, or a snide comment for 'inferior' people up his sleeves. The other boy with greased back black hair insulted a few people from the first day, but never said anything directly. His words always implied that he was making fun of them.

Tenten glared at the four. "Okay, listen here, poser," she looked at Aya, who's jaw hit the ground, "wannabe," Chie snarled with Tenten's gaze drifted to her, "ecstasy whore," the blond crossed his arms, "and smartass: if the only way you guys can get attention is by making fun of others and going with the flow, then I suggest you step off because you've got no real skills."

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Aya gasped, her face clearly showing she was insulted.

Tenten was going to repeat her nicknames, but Sakura cut in. "Aya Omeshimono, you already bragged---I mean _introduced _yourself to Kurenai. Your parents own the famous clothing chain: Omekora.

"Chie Mano. Your older sisters are actresses. That proves how you got into the same room as Aya." The pink haired girl glanced at the blond boy, who seemed to be fishing around in his head for an insult.

"Yuki Hoshizawa. You might know me, since your parents work almost side-by-side with my parents at the hospital. Of course, your parents only assist when needed, which isn't very often because my parents are normally doing the work." Yuki was ready to launch himself at Sakura, but the last boy held him back.

"Finally, Inoue Oresai. Your older brother plays on the Konoha basketball team, correct? The same as Itachi Uchiha?" Inoue said nothing. "From what I heard, he might not recover in time for the next championship game because he fell out of a tree when trying to rescue a kitten. Funny, because when I saw that same tree, I was sure it couldn't be taller than twelve feet."

"That's what we call a pussy," Ino sneered. "I guess it runs in the family."

Before the eight of them got into a fight (with Hinata dragged in), Sasuke laughed and stepped forward. His arms were badly bruised, and his short-sleeved shirt wasn't doing a very good job of covering it up. He had a black eye and his bottom lip was swollen and there was a small cut on it. Obviously, this had been the work of Tsunade. Sakura noted that he was limping as he stepped forwards as well. She snickered quietly. "Wait, you're Fujita Oresai's younger brother?" Another laugh. "You're joking! Fujita told my brother, who told me, that you were supposed to be muscular, tall, and handsome, like him." Sasuke observed the thin, lanky, and non-muscular body before him. "Obviously he was exaggerating, just like he was when he said he donated one of his livers to a child in need. Wasn't that the reason he used when he said he couldn't play? That was a lie too."

When the rest of the group was either laughing or adding in cruel comments, Naruto looked over at Hinata and smiled. "Here, let me get that." He bent down, ripped the paper from her shoes, then expertly tossed it at an innocent bystander (he was aiming for the garbage can). "Don't let what Sasuke said bother you. He's a jerk to practically everyone. You didn't hear this from me, but Sasuke once walked out of a public restroom with his pants around his ankles. Boy, that was _way_ more embarrassing than what happened to you." He gave a thumbs up. "So we'll just forget all about this, 'kay?"

Hinata blushed and nodded. "Thank you." Without even thinking, she threw her arms around him and brought him into a gentle embrace.

_Wow, _was all Naruto could think at the moment. He didn't know what to do, so instead of hugging her back (A/N: like he should! Stupid Naruto.), he patted her head. "N-No problem." They stood there for a while, wondering what to do next.

Finally, the two broke apart and turned around so their backs faced each other. **YEAH, nice one! **Inner Hinata exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. Hinata could only twiddle her thumbs and occasionally steal glances at Naruto, who was rubbing the back of his head as he slowly made his way back to his friends (Aya, Chie, Yuki, and Inoue already left because of the verbal beating).

_He patted her head like a dog,_ was what the six watchers thought at the same time. _Naruto is an idiot. It's so obvious they like each other._

"Okay, listen up everyone," Gai said. Everyone's attention in the room turned to see all of the supervisors lined up in the front of the room. "Since we'll probably miss band tonight, the adults and I decided that we should have it now. From 11:15-12:15. Then we'll have lunch, end at 1:00, give you ten minutes to make sure you have everything, then leave.

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"Everyone get into groups if you want, then head over and pick your instruments," Anko said. "Once you've gotten them, we'll lead you into rooms of eight and you can practice in there. Band will be used just for fun, but also to prepare for the talent show."

Everyone broke off into their groups. Tenten and Sakura grabbed the electric guitars, Ino a microphone, and Hinata a set of drums. "You're joking," Shikamaru said. "Hinata is going to play the drums? Is it a really soft song, perhaps?"

"Shut up," Ino growled, grabbing a stand for the microphone.

Sasuke took an electric guitar, Shikamaru a regular one, Neji a drum set, and Naruto a microphone. "We're totally going to own you," Naruto laughed.

"We'll see," Sakura replied.

"Okay," Anko said, passing the groups of teens. "You eight will be together in a room," she finished, drawing an imaginary circle around the eight _friends_. "That room over there."

"But Anko, we---" Tenten protested, but was silenced with a finger to her lips, courtesy of Anko.

"I'm sorry, did I ask for your opinion? That room over there."

Tenten flushed and nodded, muttering a few curses as she lead the rest of the eight. Hinata nervously glanced at Naruto once in a while, but when he caught her, she felt extremely embarrassed and began randomly conversing with the nearest person.

"It's nice today, isn't it?" she asked her cousin, who didn't seem very pleased to have to respond.

"I guess."

She stole another glance at Naruto, who once again caught it, and continued speaking as though she wasn't staring at the blond. "It's a good thing the hike is today. Oh, anyways, how was your birthday yesterday? Do anything special?"

"We're at the same camp, Hinata," Neji said, clearly bored. "What could I have done on my birthday? Although, as my gift, I did receive some information about my _friends_. Secrets, of course, that I am sworn never to repeat."

"I see," Hinata said understandably.

"For example," he continued unexpectedly, continuing to focus his gaze forwards, "I'm not supposed to mention anything about Naruto secretly singing opera in the bathroom."

"When he bathes?" Hinata gasped.

Neji flinched. "When he bathes, when he…defecates, and when he… 'number one's." Hinata laughed at how her cousin tried to be couth about such a subject. "And I'm not supposed to say anything about how Sasuke planned to kiss Sakura anyways, just because he likes her. Nor is Shikamaru's secret supposed to be revealed."

"It's a good thing you aren't telling me any of this," Hinata giggled. "And I'm sure you won't tell me Shikamaru's secret?"

"No, but I will tell you this: it has nothing to do with his dream about Ino playing strip shogi with him. And he was---I mean, was not winning."

**Ewww, what the heck? **Inner Hinata cried, clutching her head. **Our cousin hangs out with perverts! If he was winning, that means Ino was **_**stripping**_

_I'm sure it's not Neji's fault,_ Hinata defended. _But wait...strip shogi? Shouldn't it be strip poker? _"Well, those are…_interesting_ secrets that you didn't tell me. But that was Naruto's big secret? Nothing about…liking anyone or anything? I mean that Aya girl that was flirting with him before?"

"He doesn't like Aya," Neji said stiffly. "And he doesn't hate you." Hinata smiled, but tried to hide it by frowning and curling her bottom lip inwards. Naruto was giving Sasuke a thumbs up, and he turned quickly to flash Hinata a quick grin. She blushed. "And please stop staring at him from a distance. It's disturbing."

"I will if you stop looking at Tenten," Hinata retorted. Neji snorted. (A/N: HEY, I rhymed! Heigh-ho!)

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The hike route was carved into the mountain, directing them with a dirt trail. Around them were rocks, trees, bushes, and anything that would make a nature lover happy. They have already hiked for about three hours, and the sun was slowly starting to set. "Look!" Naruto exclaimed as they walked over a small bridge to the other side of the trail. "Underneath us is a river!"

"Stream," Shikamaru corrected, looking at his reflection before kicking a rock in and passing by.

"Same difference."

"Listen up, guys," Iruka said, impaling his walking stick (it was actually a random stick he found near a tree that he claimed just so he would look 'cooler') into the dirt. "This is a historic site right up here. You can tell, because this very delicate rock right here," he poked it with his stick gently, "is in the shape of a legendary hiker. It is recognized far and wide." The rock was in the middle, and around it was four ways to continue the hike: three lead them farther, and one lead them back.

"Looks more like that squid thing Sakura tried drawing last year," Ino laughed.

"Squid?" Hinata repeated. "Sakura wouldn't draw a squid. I thought it was a horse."

"No way!" Tenten exclaimed. "It was definitely the bogeyman."

Sakura crawled into a little corner and began rocking back and forth in the feudal position. "It was my doggy," she whined.

"Seriously?" her three friends asked at the same time, actually surprised. "Coulda fooled me."

"Continuing on," Gai interrupted, "it's easy to find your way back to the camp, because it is the same direction that he's pointing his walking stick in." It was true. The hiker was pointing his outstretched hand, which was grasping the stick, in the same direction as the camp. "It's youth!"

"GAI!"

"LEE!"

"Rapist," Kakashi muttered. "Always having a fetish for little boys."

"I do not!" Gai insisted while he embraced Lee.

_Contradicting,_ everyone thought at the same time.

Aya frowned and stomped her feet. "I hate nature," she scoffed. "Why is this hike mandatory anyways? I want to go back."

"Me too," Chie piped up, crossing her arms.

Ino pretended to cough, while blatantly sneaking the word 'wannabe' in.

"Because," was Anko's answer as she dismissed the complaint. "Let's keep going. Make sure you don't get lost. There are bears at night, and sometimes wild kittens." They all continued walking again.

"Why should we be afraid of wild kittens?" Naruto inquired. "It isn't like they'll kill us. I mean, what use is a cat anyways?"

"Cats are adorable!" Hinata protested, but immediately backed down. "I mean, they could do a lot…"

"Like tear up my drapes and leave hair all over my furniture?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Thanks, but I'd rather have a dog that does useful things."

Hinata looked to her friends for help. Tenten was a dog person, so she wouldn't defend cats even if her life depended on it. Sakura had a dog, and never even saw a cat, except for the ones on the television, so she didn't know about having one. Ino detested cats ever since Hinata's cat, Mori, ate Ino's pet fish.

"What about," Hinata said, running out of things to say, "Catwoman? There's no Dogwoman, only Catwoman."

Obviously, Naruto thought the desperate attempt at an insult was the best. "Well, what about Superdog?"

"Cats can land on their feet!"

"Well, that's just too bad. I guess there's no use of throw them out of windows."

"That's so cruel and unfair!"

"What's cruel and unfair is the fact that cats even exist. I mean, when someone tries to break into my house, and assuming I was one of the poorer people, would I want a dog to defend me, or a _cat?_"

"But…" Hinata faltered. She ran out of ideas of why to argue that cats are indeed useful. Luckily, an idea popped into her head. "But cats don't bark. They're at least quiet, especially when the doorbell rings. Dogs bark and run to the door."

"Because they're willing to protect humans." He snorted and crossed his arms. "Face it, Hinata, you can't stand up for yourself," he deadpanned.

Hinata slowed her walking and Naruto passed her contently. Neji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru had looks of pity as they walked by as well, joining Naruto in the middle of the group. Hinata and her friends were in the back of the group.

"Ignore that jerk," Tenten said, placing a condoling hand on her friend's shoulder. "He just doesn't know when he's going too far."

"This is so going in my diary," Ino said stiffly.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "As if that'll make a difference."

"It will," Ino said. "I'll remember what happened, and I'll get my guards to track him down and give him a good beating."

"Very mature," Tenten sighed. "Oh, hey, Sakura? Where's that ankle bracelet you got from your siblings?"

Sakura looked down at her ankle, then at her friends. "Shoot, I lost it! Help me find it, guys."

------------------------------------------------------------------

"That was a pretty stupid argument," Neji said, noting Naruto's unreadable face. "What's with the stoic act? You should be annoying us right about now."

"Shut up," Naruto muttered, shoving his fists into his pockets. "That's none of your business."

"PMSing," Sasuke whispered to Shikamaru. "I've experienced PMSing people."

"You mean your mom?" Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "Brother."

Shikamaru decided not to further press on the subject. "Hey, Naruto, where's that necklace your parents gave you when you finally graduated kindergarten? I thought you never took it off."

Naruto felt his neck area, then his patted his chest, hoping the necklace fell in there and just needed to get out. No luck. "Damn, I dunno! You've gotta help me find it, guys. My parents would kill me if I lost that! It belonged to my great-great-great grandpa's cousin's niece's son's lawyer's tennis player partner's daughter's second-cousin twice removed."

"Wait, lawyer?" Sasuke repeated.

"Tennis player partner?" Neji added.

Shikamaru agreed. "Shouldn't something like that be handed down through your family?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "Oh, right! My great, great, great grandpa's cousin's niece's son's lawyer's tennis player partner's daughter's second-cousin twice removed is actually my great aunt."

Nobody wanted to waste any time to see if that actually worked out, but it probably didn't. It was Naruto. What could they say? "Right, whatever," Shikamaru said.

They began crawling on the ground, looking under rocks and logs to find it. The necklace itself shouldn't be that hard to find. After all, it was a bright, florescent pink with 'Uzumaki' written on it with neon orange font and outlined in white. Naruto's friends, as well as Naruto, always questioned why his parents got Naruto that colour and design.

"Hey, look at this," Sasuke said, waving his friends over. They all crowded around the Uchiha, who held up not the necklace, but something else. It was a silver chain, not that big, with a few charms. They were a green grafitti-style heart, a purple rose, a white dove, a pink bunny, and a phrase in Japanese. It was black with silver lining. "I know it isn't yours," he said, referring to Naruto, "but it has to be someone's. Maybe it's someone from our camp?"

He stood up and placed the object in his shorts pocket. "I guess we have to keep looking then," Neji sighed.

"Where's that necklace?" Naruto cried loudly.

Before they continued the search, a soft voice said, "I dunno, Sakura, I can't find your ankle bracelet anywhere. We can always get you a new one, right?"

"It's not the same, Hinata," Sakura replied sternly. "That one has sentimental value!"

"Of course," Shikamaru said, looking over at Sasuke. "That Japanese writing read 'Haruno'. It belongs to Sakura."

Naruto looked over at Sakura and waved her over. "Hey, Sakura! I think we found your ankle bracelet thingy."

"Really?" Sakura exclaimed, running up to them. "Where?"

A sly smile crossed Naruto's face as he gestured with his head at Sasuke. "He's got it. Go ask him nicely."

"Mmhmm," Tenten hummed. "How about you give us the ankle bracelet and we'll give you this necklace." She raised her hand to reveal the necklace dangling from her fingers.

Sakura nodded and smiled. "Yeah."

Ino frowned. "So, go get it from him!" She pushed Sakura forwards, almost making the girl bump into the prodigy.

Sakura bit her lower lip. "Give me my bracelet, _please_," she said as politely as she could through her gritten teeth.

Sasuke nodded, took the item out of his pockets, then grinned. He took a step forward, and Sakura automatically stepped back and covered her mouth with one of her hands. "Typical," Sasuke said, "but cute. I'm not going to kiss you again, you know. And if I was going to, you should be honoured."

Sakura snatched the object from his hands, momentarily touching his own, then stomped back to her friends. "No-No-Now where's my necklace?"

Tenten threw it to Naruto, who tripped and missed it. "You should be quick on your feet," she sneered, "like a _cat_."

"Wait," Hinata interjected before the eight of them would break into another fight. "Does anyone realize we're all alone?"

"So? Afraid of being alone?" Naruto taunted.

"That isn't what she means, dumbass," Sasuke said, quickly looking around. "We're all alone. That means the rest of the group left us and continued on the hike. Now we're stuck with those girls because of you and your stupid necklace."

"Hey, shut up!" Naruto countered skilfully (not).

"Let's head back to find that statue of that guy," Hinata suggested. "The squid man."

"And besides, if Sakura didn't lose her necklace," Naruto continued, completely ignoring Hinata, "the girls wouldn't be here either! Maybe if the great Haruno Princess was more responsible, we wouldn't have to be stuck with them."

"Naruto," Sakura said in a murderous tone. **I'M GONNA KILL THAT BOY! **She picked up the nearest rock, which happened to be extremely big, and tossed it at Naruto. Lucky for him, he was able to duck, so the rock went soaring over his head.

"Isn't that the direction of the hiker squid?" Sasuke asked, watching it fly.

"You don't think," Tenten said.

"It's impossible!" Neji exclaimed.

"There's no way she could---" But Ino was cut off when a loud CRASH echoed throughout the forest. "Hell no."

The eight of them dashed towards the same way as the statue. It wasn't like they went that far from it, especially since they had to go backwards to search for the missing items. "Hell no!" Shikamaru reiterated in a hopeless tone.

Sure enough, the statue was now in millions of pieces. "You broke a historic monument!" Hinata cried, picking up a few pieces, only to drop them to the ground once again.

"That's not the point!" Ino cried.

"Maybe we could put it back together?" Naruto suggested.

"Not the point!" Tenten repeated. "We're---"

"Lost." That word was the one that took all their hope away. None of them were the least bit happy. Being stuck with no hardly any supplies to survive in a dark forest, with your worst enemies, could _never_ be good. Or...could it?

* * *

**(1**) He gave the Milly face (Naruto) 

The Milly face/pose, or whatever you call it, is when you stick your tongue out and pull the skin under one of your eyes down. You all know what I'm talking about.

I know it was mostly Hinata/Naruto in this chapter, but I didn't write enough for these two in the past chapters. I SWEAR I'll write something for ALL of the four main couples in the next chapter.

And seriously, don't ask about the Dogs VS Cats thing. I had no idea of what to write...

**----------NOTE: PLEASE READ!----------**

And school is starting on Wednesday (so I've only got tomorrow off, and that's it), and that means the updates will be coming slower than usual (if that's even possible). My mom wants me to do really good (I was butchered for getting two As last term), so I'm sure she won't let me go on the computer much. I'm thinking there'll be an update every month or two months, but who knows? It all depends on how things go. I hope you guys understand... I'm terribly sorry.


	9. The Cave

_**Disclaimer:**_ I. Don't. Own. 'kay?

**KnighteWolfe**: Hmmm, paintball? That is a good idea. And the prank is good too. I'm not sure when the next prank will come into the story, though...I don't think these things through. I just write what I think and hope it comes out okay. And Jiraya? I'm glad someone mentioned him! Jiraya will be making his appearance soon after they return from the 'hike.'

And thanks for all the new reviewers! I noticed some people added this to story alert or favourites without reviewing. If you could just please review at least once so I know what you like the most about this story so I can try and keep it up. :D

* * *

"We've been hiking forever," Sakura complained. "I need to stop." She sat on a rock, took off her shoes, and began rubbing her feet. "I shouldn't have worn flip-flops."

"This is your fault," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Naruto shouldn't have insulted her!" Ino said.

Hinata raised her hand and confidently stared into everyones' faces as she spoke. "Fighting won't get us out of here, so there's no point in it. Why even bring the past up? It isn't as though we can go back in time to fix everything."

"My parents could probably buy me a time machine," Naruto said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Hinata spun on her heels and narrowed her eyes at Naruto. "Do you see your parents anywhere here? HMMM, Mister I'm-So-Rich-That-I-Don't-Have-To-Care-About-Other-People's-Feelings? WELL?"

Silence.

"Ohhhkaaayyy," Sakura said slowly, standing up. "My feet are fine. Shall we continue hiking?" She looked around quickly and picked up a few blocks of wood, grinning. _I can give this to my sister for her birthday_, she thought evilly.

Everyone nodded rapidly and continued walking, trying to forget the scary face previously displayed on Hinata's face. The silence carried around was cut short, much to everyone's dismay, when a small rumbling sound started.

"EARTHQUAKE!" Naruto yelled, throwing himself to the ground and covering his head.

"You idiot," Ino scolded, "that's your stomach. That's so disgusting." Though that's what she said, her stomach disagreed. It grumbled in pain, begging for food. "On second thought, it's not that bad. I'm hungry too."

"Did anyone bring food?" Neji asked. Everyone searched through their pockets and fished around in their bags, only to come out empty handed. "Well this is unfortunate," he said, rubbing the sweat from his forehead.

Sasuke sighed. "We have to find a place to take shelter if we can't find our way back."

"Huh?" But Sakura didn't need Sasuke to repeat himself for her. She looked up, and indeed, the sun was lower than they expected. "We'll keep looking for the camp."

"And what if we find a good spot to stay at?" Sasuke countered. "Should we stay, or go, princess?"

"Why, you---"

"Stay," Tenten said immediately. Everyone looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" Neji asked. "And why would you say that?"

Tenten cracked a small smile and placed her hands on her hips, staring at the sky. "It's going to rain soon, and none of us are dressed to continue when it does."

A quick summary of what they're wearing:

Tenten: white, sleeveless, v-neck top with a hood. Black short sleeved shirt underneath. Brown-knee-length cargo shorts. Runners. (A/N: I love that outfit XD)

Hinata: white sweater with pockets. Dark purple shirt. Lavender, flower-pattern knee-long skirt. White sandals.

Ino: baby blue shirt. Black skirt a few inches above her knees. Black two inch heels.

Sakura: dark green short-sleeved shirt. White, tight, long-sleeve shirt underneath. Light green pants. Runners.

Neji: black, zipped up sweatshirt. Baggy jeans. Runners.

Naruto: yellow baggy shirt. Black pants. Man sandals.

Shikamaru: hunter green shirt with sleeves up to his elbows. Baggy jeans. Runners.

Sasuke: navy blue vest. White shirt under. Black pants. Sandals.

Ino nodded. "That is, unless we send the people that are most prepared for the rain to continue looking." She looked around at the outfits. "I guess that would be Sakura, Hinata, Neji, and Sasuke, right? I mean, you all have two layers, and Tenten's layers aren't as thick. Plus I'm wearing a---" she paused, "shorter skirt..."

"We aren't doing that," Shikamaru said stiffly. "There's no way we're going to let the rest of them go out."

"But we need to think of food," Tenten protested. "I think we should do this."

"Fine," Neji scoffed. "You girls do what you want, and us guys will do what we want. In the end, we'll see who survives."

"Okay," Hinata said softly.

"Fine!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air.

"This is a horrible idea," Sasuke muttered. "But I guess I'm in."

Hinata looked around to see Sakura poking the dirt with a stick. "Sakura, you haven't added in your own opinion yet. What's wrong?"

Sakura continued poking. She picked her cell phone from her pocket and tossed it onto the dirt. Sasuke picked it up and flipped it open. It read 'no signal'. "You were going to call someone?"

"No," Sakura replied sarcastically, "I was just going to stare at my wallpaper and hope time passes quickly."

Hinata frowned. "So," she said, bringing her fingers up and popping another finger up as she listed each thought, "we have no signal, no food, it's going to rain and we aren't prepared, and we don't know how to get back." Then, she smiled a smile so happy, it was creepy. "This is a _wonderful_ summer vacation!"

Everyone slowly backed away. Hinata's previous display of anger was enough for them. And as they walked, a small drop of water found its way to Shikamaru's neck.

"Damn, this is going to be troublesome."

------------------------------------------------------------------

The eight decided not to split up, for obvious reasons. Safety in numbers, no? "So cold," Ino complained, rubbing her arms to keep them warm. "The back of my neck is cold too."

"Take your ponytail out," Sakura suggested. "You'll be warmer that way."

Ino nodded and followed directions. Tenten did the same. After, Hinata, Tenten, Ino, and Neji put their hoods over their heads.

"So," Naruto said, "I want to talk about something. What are your interests?"

Sakura piped up first. "I want to be a doctor like my parents, but I also want to be an actress. Even if it's only in a small play." Her smile faltered for a split-second, but returned right away.

"I like fashion," Ino said, twirling around. However, her shoes slipped on the mud, causing her to fall.

Whether it was reflexes or not, Shikamaru caught her in time and cleared his throat. "Be careful, klutz."

Ino 'hmph'ed and stood straight up again, dusting herself off. "I also like flowers. I make sure my maids at home take extra good care of my personal garden, even though it's really big."

"If you like flowers to much," Naruto said, "then shouldn't you be the one taking care of them?"

Neji nodded. "Yeah, unless you're as stuck-up and prissy as you seem."

"Hey, stop picking on her!" Silence. Everyone's eyes were aimed at Shikamaru, who looked just as stunned about saying those words. He gaped like a fish, trying to grasp any words floating in his head to form a sentence. _Uh-oh, this is going to be troublesome._

Sasuke's upper lip twitched as he slowly parted his lips. "Did you just defend Ino?" He grabbed Shikamaru's shoulders, gave a long sigh, and stared at his friend intently. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?" he yelled as he rapidly and violently shook Shikamaru by his shoulders.

"It's quite possible," Neji stated, stroking his chin. "Either that, or..." His voice trailed off and he grinned widely. There was no need to continue his sentence, because it was already implied.

"I don't like Ino!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow in mock-surprise. "What? I don't believe Neji said anything about that, did you, Neji?" He looked at Neji, who shrugged with mock-surprise as well. "Why would you assume we would go out and tease you like that? Shame! Shame!"

Shikamaru wanted to die. If he had a gun, he's shoot...no, he'd shoot Naruto and Neji. And heck, Sasuke too. But since he had no gun, he had to just stand there and hope someone would protect him.

"Stop teasing him!" Ino exclaimed, wagging her finger infront of Naruto's face.

Before anyone could tease the couple further, there was a loud clash of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning. Everyone snapped their neck up, then looked at each other with worried faces. "We have to take cover, now," Sasuke said. He automatically grabbed Sakura's hand without thinking and began running, trying to find any kind of cover.

Sakura wanted to protest, but decided not to. His warm hand made the weather seem not so bad. Tenten bit her lower lip, but grabbed Neji's hand and dashed after them. Shikamaru looked at Ino, who nodded, and began running as well.

Naruto looked at Hinata, who didn't look as confident as her friends. "I...I'm not a good runner," she yelled over the roaring of the thunder. The rain began pouring down on them even harder, and Naruto knew he had no choice. He walked in front of Hinata, bent down, grabbed her legs, and hoisted her up onto his back. "N-Naruto, what are you doing?" she shrieked. Nonetheless, she grabbed hold of him to make sure she didn't fall, and he raced after everyone else.

Hinata burried her head in his hair and wished the moment would never end. _His hair is so...dirty. _She took her head out of his hair and blushed lightly. _How often does he wash it? It's so...gross. I bet he washes it even less often than Tenten does, and she bathes every three or four days! I should get Neji to lend Naruto some of his shampoo and conditioner...God knows Neji spends half of his weekly $100 on hair products. _

"We're here," Naruto panted, walking into the cave. He let Hinata down gently then dropped to the ground, his eyes barely staying open.

"Thank you," Hinata whispered, blushing.

Shikamaru was taking a close look at Ino's propped ankle as it slowly swelled. She was biting her lower lip, trying to ignore the throbbing pain. He shook his head slowly and dropping her leg to the ground (Ino gave a loud shriek of pain), he gave a long sigh. "It's no use. It's swollen. I don't know why you decided to wear two inch heels on a _hike_."

Ino looked as though she wanted to retaliate, but her ankle told her otherwise. She let out another groan of pain and scooted towards a stone-cold wall. Hinata looked at Sakura, Tenten, and the rest of the boys; they obviously knew about Ino's injury, because they weren't paying much attention to it as they should be. She noted one of the heels were snapped off, while the other one was still as it should be.

Sasuke and Neji were in the middle of the circular cave, rubbing two twigs together. "It's no use," Sasuke muttered, throwing the two objects away. "These twigs have been soaked by the rain. We either have to wait for them to dry, or we find another way to spark a fire."

"Oh, wait a sec!" Tenten exclaimed, digging through her pocket. She flipped out a black lighter with 'Irikuchi' written on it with a unique brown font and the Irikuchi family crest faded in the background. "My brothers gave this to me before I left."

_Brothers? _Neji thought. _I thought she only had one._

"Okay," Sakura said, "we just need something to keep the fire burning. I've got these dry blocks of wood and twigs that I picked up a while ago."

Sasuke cocked his head. "Why do you have blocks of wood?"

"I was going to give it to my sister for her birthday present," Sakura replied nonchalantly, "but I'm sure I can find something else in the forest to give her."

Tenten opened her lighter, and in one swift movement, lit a few twigs on fire. It was a slow flame at first, flickering as if to taunt them, then eventually spread and engulfed the whole lot in fire. Sakura tossed a couple more twigs in and began prodding a block towards the flames with yet another twig.

"I guess you and your sister aren't that close," Sasuke commented as he watched Sakura stare at the fire with blank eyes. When she didn't answer, he decide to continue. He wasn't sure if she could hear him (she could have been daydreaming), or if she was just angry at him. "My brother and I aren't that close either. Itachi is some big star in basketball. I mean, I'm pretty good too, but I'm nothng compared to my brother. My parents only pay attention to my brother's skills, because he's a big shot. Still, he's pretty nice to me."

Sakura pretended not to care, and brushed the subject off like it was an annoying fly. It was obvious she didn't know what to say, so instead, Hinata cut in.

"So, Ino, how is your mother's career? Where is she at the moment?"

Ino glanced up, then threw a few more twigs into the flames. "Home. She's leaving for London in a few days, so my dad is the only one staying home."

"Only child, hmm?" Shikamaru inquired. He didn't wait for an answer, so instead, he continued, "I'm the same. Most of us guys are the only children."

"Really?" Tenten questioned. "Which ones?"

Neji pointed to himself, Naruto, then Shikamaru. "But you said you have brothers. Before, you said your _brother_ is a genius in computer science."

Tenten cocked her head to the side, then shrugged slowly. "I've got older twin brothers: Hideo and Akio. I refer to them as one person, because they practically are. Do everything together, say everything together, go everywhere together. It's fun, though, because after one comes back from their date, we all play video games together."

"You're acting as if your brothers are always bored after their dates, or they don't do anything after," Neji commented.

Tenten shrugged again. "It's always been that way, and I doubt it'll change any time soon." As she prodded the wood with a twig, she looked up at Ino, who was rapidly rubbing her arms with her hands. "You look cold. I told you you should have brought a sweater."

Ino didn't respond. She only continued shivering on the spot, rocking back and forth. Shikamaru glanced over, looked down, then looked at Ino again. After a few seconds of quick contemplation, he sighed in defeat and grabbed the sleeves of his shirt. Quickly, he ripped it off of his bare skin and handed it over to Ino. She looked repulsed as she eyed the object with disgust. "I don't know what you're thinking," she said cautiously, "but don't even think about it."

Shikamaru blushed heavily, but kept his shirt held out. "I didn't mean _that_," he said with an implied tone. "You just looked cold, so I decided to give you my shirt. If you don't want it, then---"

He was cut off when something hit his stomach area. He didn't have to look far down to see Ino had pushed herself in front of him, the shirt held back for him to grab. "If you really want to keep me warm," she cursed the fire for illuminating her badly hidden grin, "then keep your shirt on and just hold me. But that's it. I'm not going to do anything else you guys think will keep us girls warm, you pervert."

The rest of the guys blushed deeply, as well as Hinata. Everything after that was extremely quiet, except for the crackling of the fire. Suddenly, Sakura felt something wet underneath her. She looked down to where she was sitting, to see her pants had a strange splatter of dark red that looked brown because of the green. "Huh?" she asked out loud, moving her legs farther apart. "What the---" She stopped and forced herself not to go off swearing like her sister had when Sakura and Ino had cut her hair.

Tenten raised an eyebrow and looked to see what Sakura was staring at. She slapped her hand over her mouth and tried not to laugh the moment she saw Ino's warning face. "Don't look at me," Hinata whispered. "I don't have anything."

Tenten dug through her pockets and pulled them out to show she had nothing. Ino dug around through her bag, but had no such luck. "Use the leaves," Tenten suggested. "Unless, of course, any of the guys have any napkins or tampons to spare."

The guys all flushed a deep crimson and vigorously shook their heads. "I am _not_ using leaves."

"Then feel free to live with wet underwear until we find our way home," Tenten said, kicking her feet back and using her arms to cushion her head as she rested them on the walls of the cave. "This is gonna be interesting."

* * *

Okay, I have seriously writer's block, so that's why this chapter is so short. I've gotten into my angst-writing mood again, so it's hard for me to write humour and fluff and thems stuff. Plus I'm trying to run this anime club at school (still unofficial. I'm sort of the vice-president, because I plan the meetings, plan what the money will be used for, keep track of members, etc.), and with the dazed president we have (who, by the way, hardly does anything), it's sort of hard, especially while trying to balance the homework.

And I apologize for the lack of humour (as stated above.) And also, muahahahahaha! Periods suck, so I decided let one of them get one now. Remember, this camp lasts for the whole month, so that means all of them have to get their periods at the camp.

If you guys have any ideas of what they could do in the cave to have the scene more 'fluffy', then please do offer them, and I will give you credit if I decide to use it.


	10. Author's Note

Dear Readers,

I am TERRIBLY sorry! I haven't updated this for a while. I know this, and you guys know this. I have some excuses, however, I still find it very sad.

Reason One:  
I'm doing pretty bad in school right now. I got 79 in english for my interim (is that even what it's called? I just pronounce it 'in-term' D:  
Anyways, I also got 64 on a recent math test, and so far I have 79 on a science quest (quiz/test) as well. Apparently I need to study more.

Reason Two:  
I lost practically all of my desires to finish this fanfiction. I'm not even reading any of the fanfictions that all of you wonderful writers update! -is disappointed in herself- HOWEVER, I will NOT give this up! I started it, and I'm going to finish, whether I like it or not.

If any of you have ideas or suggestions to keep me going, that would be great. I've already decided that Sakura and Sasuke will be staying up and will talk about stuff. (Idea from **imissmycupcake** :D) I need ideas of what they could talk about.

I'm so---AHHHHHHHHH! -slams head on keyboard- I'm seriously sorry! This has been bugging me for weeks now! It's been TWO MONTHS SINCE I'VE UPDATED LAST! -cries-

Well...I guess that's all I have to say. Don't hate me D:

-Sincerely,  
Alusy


	11. Sakura's Story

_**Disclaimer: **_Still don't own.

Holy cream, I just realized that in chapter 5, I forgot to replace the times for swimming! I put -INSERT TIME- and -INSERT ANOTHER TIME- D:

I'll fix that later... I really messed that up. XP Just ignore that. Or make up a time that can, you know, work. Forgive me.

Hooooly crap, it's been so long since I've updated. I'm truly sorry about this! I just haven't been in a good mood to write comedy and stuff, plus projects and lack of motivation. I wrote this a week or two ago, but I was afraid that it wouldn't be good, or that it's too short or stuff like that. I have the urge to change this story into an angst story and kill someone off, but I will resist that urge because I promised a comedy (or an attempt at one).

Anyways, thanks so much for the suggestions everyone! I'm not really in the mood to write at the moment, but I promise I'll work on it as soon as I can. Okay, so I'm bad at keeping promises. But once I get into a better mood, I'll work on it! OH by the way, this is basically Sasuke / Sakura.

* * *

Sakura couldn't sleep. But how could you blame her? Each time she rolled around to sleep on her other side, the sound of leaves rustling kept reminding her that she indeed did follow Tenten's idea to use leaves. Ino and Hinata were able to sleep easily, and that was what Tenten and Sakura envied. Both took a long time to fall asleep, but nonetheless, there Tenten was: sleeping like a baby, occasionally pulling on Neji's hair. He didn't seem to mind though, after a few minutes, he was asleep as well. Shikamaru obviously seemed like the type to fall asleep easily, and surprisingly enough, Naruto fell asleep quickly as well.

So there the pink-haired girl was, trying to sleep, knowing that one of her favourite pairs of pants would be unusable until they were washed. She flopped around on her stomach once more, hearing the rustling of leaves again, and sighed loudly.

"Could you stop?" an irritated voice sounded.

Sakura looked around, and saw Sasuke, staring at her through the clump of hair in front of his face. His eyes were barely open, showing how tired he was. Neither of them knew what time it was, but both knew it was late. The moonlight illuminated part of the cave, and casted the rest in shadows.

"Shut up!" Sakura snapped back bitterly. "You're in no position to tell me to stop! It isn't like you'd know what it's like to have blood pour out of you like a waterfall each month!"

Sasuke gave a nauseous look, dug his face into the ground, and covered his ears. "I don't care about your little girl problems!"

"Well then, I don't care about keeping you up!" Sakura retorted furiously, rolling over so her back now faced him.

"Fine!"

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut forcefully as though it would make her fall asleep faster. But just knowing that Sasuke was there, staring at her, made her angry, which kept her up.

"Look, I'm not in the mood to fight. So...if there's anything I can do about your...problem, just let me know."

Sakura gasped and clutched her heart. "W-What? Sasuke, was that you who said that?"

She could seen him blushed lightly and nod. "Wow," she continued, "what was that?"

"What was what?"

"That red thing on your cheek."

Sasuke cleared his throat and rolled over so his back was facing her. "N-Nevermind. Forget I even offered to say anything."

Sakura felt her heart sink. "N-No, that's not what I meant. I mean, it is what I meant, but I didn't mean it in a mean way that could offend you! I really want you to talk to me!"

Sasuke smirked and gave a loud snort, but he felt warm inside. "Really," he thought out loud. He turned to see Sakura nervously playing with her short hair and pulling her legs closer to her heaving chest. "Fine. What can I do to stop that waterfall of yours? It's not like I carry napkins around or anything."

"Do you have extra clothing?" Sakura inquired.

"That'll help?"

"ANYTHING will help," she replied with a heavy sigh. "Now, do you have any or not?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I brought an extra shirt just in case, you know, something happened like you pushed me into a lake or something like that."

Sakura laughed nervously and took the shirt he handed to her. "Turn around," she ordered, blushing lightly. He did as he was told, and a few minutes later, she said, "Okay, I'm done." She spun around on the spot, crossing her legs carefully, and faced Sasuke, frowning. "I'm bored. Entertain me."

"What am I, your court jester?"

"No, that's too medieval. Just my entertainment."

"Sorry, _your highness_, but I'm going to sleep," Sasuke replied sarcastically, plopping back down and pulling his jacket over his head as if using it as a shield against the angry pink-haired girl.

Sakura bit her bottom lip out of frustration. "You're just like my sister," she screamed. "I hate you!"

A pregnant silence weaved its way through the thick atmosphere. Sasuke regretted how he had acted. He just meant what he said as teasing; he never thought Sakura would actually take it seriously. But there she was, hugging her legs towards her chest, staring at the cold ground with blank eyes. He fidgetted around with the zipped on his jacket uncomfortably, not sure of what to say next. He glanced over at his friends and the girls, only to see they were all sleeping (he was sure at least one of the other six people would have woken up after that scream).

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said, glancing over his shoulder to see her reaction. She did nothing. "What...what did your sister do?" No response. "You shouldn't fight, you know. You're siblings. Your sister cares for you a lot, I'm sure. She may not show it in ways that most would, but she does. There's no way you can seriously hate your own sister."

"Where did you get that from, a movie?" Sakura spat incredulously, a thick crease developing on her forehead. "Of course I hate her. She doesn't care about me, she always leaves me out to dry, ditches me, pretends not to know me around her friends, and uses me constantly to get what she wants. Plus she's so much smarter than me, and my parents always praise her. I mean, sure, they praise me, too, but it's obvious that they like her better. Is that what a sister is supposed to do?"

"Do you want her to pretend to be stupid for you?"

"I don't need her to be stupid. Just stupider than I am."

"You're being unreasonable and selfish. Your sister isn't going to bend to suit your every desire," Sasuke barked, angry at her immature response. He didn't know she was serious. "If you really want to surpass her, you need to stop complaining and do something about it!"

"Do you think I want her to walk over me like this?" Sakura exclaimed. "Why are you even butting into this?"

"You brought it up."

"Because you were being a jerk!"

"I told you, I'm sorry. Do you want me to get down on my knees and kiss your feet?"

Sakura pondered this for a moment, then replied, "No."

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. The only sound was the loud snoring coming from the sleeping teens. Sakura, fixing her gaze at Sasuke's eyes (which made him quite uncomfortable), took a deep breath in and shifted so that she was leaning against the cave wall.

"When we were younger," she began softly, "my sister, Ren, and I were at the playground. Ino, Hinata, Tenten, and her brothers were all there. Ino, Hinata, and I were six, Tenten was seven, and her brothers and my sister were ten. We were playing Marco Polo, and we could play it so easily because we practically had the jungle gym memorized after playing there so often."

**&FLASHBACK**

Sakura began spinning around, listening to the people around her chant how many seconds left until she could stop. When it reached zero, she stopped and tried to regain her balance, giggling at how dizzy she felt. Slowly, she made her way towards the jungle gym, where everyone was climbing and hanging from edges, hoping to not be caught. As she ascended up the bars, she felt a strong pressure push her forwards. Sakura crashed against the wooden platform. She felt the bitter taste of blood oozing through her lips, and she opened her eyes to see what was going on. Ren was standing above her, biting her cheeks.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Hinata gasped, jumping off of the swing and running towards Sakura. "Oh my gosh, you're bleeding!" She took a flower-patterned handkerchief out from her pocket and wiped Sakura's lips with it.

"We should get her back to the parents," Ino suggested.

Tenten and her brothers jumped down from the slide and joined the crowd around Sakura, who was sitting up against one of the short walls. "What on earth happened?" Tenten exclaimed.

"I was trying to crawl on the other side of the bars to get up before Sakura, but I accidentally stepped on her dress, slipped, and fell against her," Ren admitted, tears welling up in her eyes as she fell to her knees and looked at Sakura. "I'm really sorry!" She took the handkerchief from Hinata and wiped Sakura's face with it. "Oh, Sakura, your lip is swelling, your chin is bruised, and your dress is stained from dirt and speckles of blood! Here, let me help you up."

"We'll go get the parents," Tenten's brothers said in unison, nodding to Tenten, and the three of them ran back.

Ino looked at Hinata. "We should rinse this cloth in the water fountain," she said. The both of them ran off to the nearest water fountain, which was a hundred or two meters away."

Ren watched their small figures shrink, then turned back to Sakura, stood up, and extended her hand. "You'll have to change out of that dress once we get back, if mom and dad even let you join the party again."

"I know," Sakura mumbled, wiping the tears from her eyes. She wouldn't cry in front of her older sister. She grabbed Ren's hand and said, "You were right, Ren. I shouldn't have worn this dress. And I really liked it, too." Ren pulled Sakura up so that Sakura's delicate ear was only a few centimeters from Ren's lips.

"I know," she whispered, her words slathered with greed. "You should listen to me." Sakura's shocked eyes trailed up to Ren's face. A thin, smug grin stretched from ear to ear.

They stood there in silence. A sudden gust of wind sliced through Sakura's ears. Nothing else dared to move, except for the cherryblossoms falling from the tree above them and the tumbling leaves dancing around them. There was nothing else that Ren required to say. Her short words and her expression explained it all.

When Ino and Hinata were only a few meters away, Ren quickly pulled Sakura into an embrace and began stroking her hair gently. Ren buried her face in Sakura's hair, trying to hide the smile on her face. "It's okay, Sakura. I promise today will get better," she said softly, but loud enough for Ino and Hinata to hear.

Sakura wanted to push away, but couldn't. _I'm too weak,_ she thought, fighting back the tears. She desperately didn't want to let her sister know she won, but she couldn't help it. She didn't know if it was the pain of being backstabbed, or if it was her chin, lips, and teeth. "I want to go home!" she cried, just as Tenten, her brothers, and the parents were coming into view.

**&END OF FLASHBACK**

"What was so important about that dress?" Sasuke inquired.

Sakura sighed. "Every time I went to the mall, I would always stare at that dress from outside the window. I couldn't afford it, though. My parents could, obviously, but they said they wouldn't get it for me because I already had so many dresses. My sister really liked that dress too, and we decided to pull our money together and buy it when we had enough. And suddenly, on my birthday, before the party, my parents showed up with a wrapped box, and inside was the dress. I immediately ran to my room to put it on. When I came out, my sister told me it didn't look very nice on me because of my forehead and my eye colour, and said I shouldn't wear it. And she said it was a bit too long, and that it could be dangerous if I wore it. But I didn't care. I had the dress I loved, and I was going to wear it. The rest is obvious."

"She purposely fell on you, hurt you, and messed up your dress," Sasuke answered, even though it wasn't necessary. "If she couldn't have it, then neither could you."

Sakura nodded gloomily. "And that was when it first began. After that, she's embarrassed me in front of my crush, taken my stuff from my room, blamed her mistakes on me, and skipped two grades ahead."

"Wow, what a..." He trailed off, knowing it was more than implied.

"Yeah. So, what were you saying about me being selfish?"

Sasuke frowned. He hated losing, especially to a girl. "If that's how you truly feel, then go ahead and think that." He couldn't think of anything else to say, and instead decided to leave it at that.

"You could never understand how I feel," Sakura finished before lying down and drifting into sleep.

Sasuke smirked. "That's what you think," he whispered, then soon joined her.

&--

Hinata woke slowly, her eyes fluttering open at the sight of light.

"Finally," someone, who sounded a lot like Shikamaru, muttered. "Even I woke up earlier than her."

Hinata rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times, waiting for everyone to come into focus. The first person she saw was Naruto, who was trying to stifle a laugh. The next people she saw were her friends. Ino, Sakura, and Tenten, who all looked energized and ready to take on the world. The rest of the guys were standing around the cave, posing as though they were getting ready for their pictures to be taken for a male swimsuit calendar. (A/N: Don't ask...it just popped into my head.)

"W-Why is everyone staring at me?" she asked, automatically scooting away and covering her reddening cheeks with her warm hands.

Naruto's grin stretched from ear-to-ear. "Aww, you don't have to look so worried, but it makes you look cute." He winked playfully, not realizing he was flirting, being the oblivious person he is with romance. The hue of Hinata's face changed. "We were just waiting for you, no big deal, really. We can set off anytime now, whenever you're ready."

"I-I'm really sorry for holding you guys up! You should have w-woken me up!"

"Naw," Tenten said nonchalantly, "we didn't want to wake you from your beauty sleep. Now upsie-daisy, and let's get going, hm?"

Hinata nodded. "Okay."

--

"Okay, ma peeps," Gai said, giving a thumbs up. "Is anyone missing?"

"You're only asking this now?" Kurenai sighed, slapping her forehead. "Wouldn't it have been better to ask this right after we got back from the hike?"

Gai merely stared at her, as though she was speaking another language.

"Nevermind."

Gai cleared his throat and continued ranting as though nothing was wrong. "Now, attendance for cabin three. Are you all here?"

Silence.

"Okay! Cabin four?"

"Gai!" Anko exclaimed, whacking him over the head. "Nobody said anything! That means they aren't here!" She glanced around the room. "And, by the looks of it, the cabin four boys aren't here either. So, let's go crash in their cabins and blame the mess we're going to make on them!"

Kurenai gasped dramatically. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! WE HAVE TO FIND THEM!"

"Hell no," Kakashi muttered. "I just got my hair done."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Kurenai bellowed.

Kakashi winced. "I said...hell...o. Of course I'll go!"

* * *

Yes, that was 2500+ words of crap. Please forgive me.


	12. Finally Back Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

I honestly have no idea what to say. The last time I updated this story was almost a year and a half ago. I can't express how sorry I am that I haven't updated at all. I wouldn't be surprised if no one has this on their story alerts anymore, but here it is anyways. And I want to say that I was working on this chapter a few months ago, but something happened to my computer and I had to reset it, so I lost everything.

It took a lot to get this chapter out there, and I have to say I didn't put my whole heart into it. I re-read the past 11 chapters of this, laughing and many parts, and getting frustrated at others like cliff-hangers, and I finally felt what it was like to be a fanfiction reader again.

And please ignore any and all grammar and spelling errors, because I wrote this off of the top of my head just now without checking it over.

* * *

After trudging for what felt like hours, though in reality it was really about thirty minutes, the group somehow circled and found themselves next to the broken remains of the statue. Sakura felt incredibly guilty. It was her fault that they couldn't find their way back to the camp; if she controlled her anger like her friends told her to countless times, none of this would have happened. She wouldn't have to be stumbling around in leaves, she wouldn't have had to talk to Sasuke (though she felt slightly good about telling him,) and they would be eating a relatively good lunch.

"I'm so sorry about this," she apologized, kicking some of the smaller stones. "If I didn't throw the rock, none of this would have happened."

Before the guys could chime in in agreement, Ino cut in loudly. "It's not your fault. If Naruto wasn't such a jerk, you wouldn't have thrown the rock."

"Right, because throwing a rock is a reaction people _always _give when we insult them," Sasuke sneered. "Sakura's right. It's her fault we're here, so let's just leave it at that."

Ino and Tenten went to argue, but Sakura gestured to them to be quiet. They retreated, deciding to burn holes into Sasuke's empty head, according to them.

"If it makes you feel better," Hinata said quietly, "I didn't have a _horrible_ time." Everyone gave her an incredulous stare, as though she had just admitted she was a magical unicorn with a message from the future. "I mean," she added quickly, "there are things I'd rather be doing, but considering the fact that we were abandoned by our supervisors on a random mountain-side, it could have been much worse. There could have been bears, or lions--"

"There are no lions in this area," Shikamaru interjected, then fell quiet when his friends hushed him.

"--and honestly, if I were ever to be stranded alone with a group of people, I'm glad it was with you guys."

Naruto licked his lips and for a moment, Hinata looked horrified at what he might have been thinking. But he didn't seem to notice the underlying message he was sending her, and instead continued. "All this sweetness is making me lust for candy."

Tenten peered into the direction of the sun to see if there were any approaching figures. "We should stay here," she stated firmly.

"Obviously," Neji stated smugly. "This is the first thing we saw that gave us a sense of direction. If someone comes looking for us, this is the first place they'll come. There's no reason for you to say it like you made some scientific discovery."

Tenten snapped. "Holy shit!" she said in a strangled voice. "I am SO tired of your attitude! Honestly, you make it seem like YOU'RE the one PMSing instead of Sakura!"

Neji seemed speechless. But there was no way he was going to let her have the last word, nor the last insult. "I'm not PMSing!" he exclaimed, looking to his friends. "I'm not PMSing, am I?"

His friends exchanged glances, then shrugged with apologetic expressions surfacing on their smug faces. "Sorry, but you're worse than Itachi sometimes," Sasuke stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

For a few seconds, everyone had thought that Neji was near the verge of tears. "It seems being away from his hair products for a whole day has driven him to the point of insanity," Sakura joked, though it was hard to say whether she actually meant it.

At this point, everyone was so tired and hungry that they all started arguing about pointless things. Naruto began yelling about the colour of the sky, Shikamaru told him to shut up, Hinata insisted that everyone try to calm down, and Ino whined that she wanted to get back to camp.

No one had sense the ominous presence of a ninth person creeping up behind Hinata.

"Surprise! Guess who's gotcha from behind!" the figure exclaimed in a creepy voice that could only belong to a man who had been preying on unsuspecting women for almost his whole life.

Hinata felt someone grab her shoulder, spun around, and screamed into their face as loud as she could, her eyes bulging out of their eye sockets.

The person was so surprised that they, too, screamed back, and soon everyone in the group was screaming out of shock, fear of the man, or in Naruto's case, because everyone else was and he wanted to be part of it. He grinned stupidly as he screamed, and looked around to make sure everyone else was still screaming. They weren't. He stopped.

"Who," Neji demanded, stepping forwards, "or _what _are you? How dare you lay your hands on the future leader of the Hyuuga family!"

The man, as they looked closer now, was indeed creepy looking. He had long white hair, red paint scribbled on his face, and a permanent look on his face that just asked people to smack it.

"Ooh-hoo-hoo!" he sang, staring intently at Hinata. She backed away slowly into her friends for protection, but all the while tried to smile politely as to not directly offend him. "So if this is Hinata Hyuuga, that means I've found them!" He turned around, opened his mouth, and let out a rather bestial cry , pounding his chest for dramatic effect.

Within a few seconds, a large group of adults came running at them. Kurenai and Iruka had worried looks plastered on their dirty faces, Kakashi and Asuma looked relieved that they had found the missing kids, though it was more because they could finally go back to camp, rather than the fact that they were actually found, and Tsunade was bouncing along (A/N: Tsunade was, not her breasts, pervs!) towards them.

When she reached them, she glared at the group, then at the statue (which she didn't seem to mind was broken,) then at the white-haired man. "What on earth happened here?"

"That man," Naruto exclaimed loudly, but before he could continue, Tsunade pointed a finger at him and glared.

"You, shut up," she said shortly. She pointed to Tenten. "You, continue."

Tenten obliged. "We got lost last night," she mumbled, "so we slept in a cave last night. And then that man," she repeated, pointing to the creepy old man who was staring at Tsunade with great interest, "creeped up behind Hinata and grabbed her---"

"Jiraya!" Tsunade exclaimed, horrified. "How could you touch a little girl like that?"

"No no no!" Hinata stated, embarrassed by what Tsunade thought. "He grabbed my shoulders and just really scared me!"

Tsunade seemed a bit sceptical, but brushed it off almost immediately. "Anyways, the important thing is that you're safe and that your parents won't sue us because this was all part of the plan," she said rapidly, with a stare that told the children they couldn't breathe a word of this to their parents or anyone else.

&&NOS------------------------------------------------------

Once they arrived back at the camp, they were ambushed. Questions zoomed back and forth, and no one had time to answer them. Temari was inquiring about whether they saw any bears, while Kankuro demanded to know if anything else happened besides a bit of sleeping. Chie and Aya shrieked back at Kankuro, threatening that nothing else could have happened, and if anything did, they would be in a lot of trouble.

Sakura immediately bolted from the group as fast as she could to get to her cabin and rid herself of leaves. When she was only meters from her cabin, Chie stepped in her way, her onyx eyes daring Sakura to contradict whatever she was about to say. But before Chie could say anything, Sakura exclaimed, "I don't have time for this!" and pushed her aside so she tripped on her own feet and landed in a puddle of mud. Chie's screech was heard all over camp, and so the rest of the seven decided to rush to see what happened.

Everyone glanced over to Hinata, waiting to see if she would saying something like 'serves you right!' or 'you got what you deserved,' but she merely spared Chie and pitying smile and continued to the cabin.

All of them, including the boys, entered the cabin peered into Sakura's room to see her lying on her bed, moaning from the sweet comfort her bed gave her. She preferred this over the rock-hard ground she had to sleep in previously. Hinata lay down beside her and stared up at the ceiling, just glad to be back. She never knew how much she took a bed for granted.

But the nice moment was ruined when Naruto jumped in-between the girls and whooped, stretching himself across it so that the girls were driven to the very sides. "Naruto!" Sakura blurted out. "Get off my bed!" She pushed him to the side, where he bumped into Hinata, and they both toppled onto the ground. Hinata, who was so caught up in the moment, didn't realize she had grabbed hold of Naruto, (it was a habit of hers to seek protection) and was now blushing madly, though she still hadn't let go.

Naruto was speechless. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to clown around and make a joke, flirt shamelessly and make it seem like she wanted this, or to seem completely disgusted by the idea and jump up.

Whatever his idea was, no one was quite sure of his choice. He began to speak, but all of his words became tied and jumbled in his mouth, so as he was grinning, he was unaware that his words sounded like, "Haba schlubgin oo ya hinay-nay."

Hinata, who was lying on top of him, was utterly baffled and wasn't sure whether it was her embarrassment that made her unable to comprehend what Naruto just said, or whether his stupidity had taken over and everyone else had heard what she did. She felt a sudden heat rush to her face as her eyes rolled back. Naruto stared at her as though she were possessed, and slapped a hand to his mouth. Then suddenly, she collapsed.

And so, silence weaved its way into the air and decided to linger there for a few moments. A few people opened their mouths, but then closed them again, and repeated this process a few times.

"Welll…" Sasuke said, dragging on the ending of his word a bit longer than he wanted to. "Looks like she fainted."

The boys waited for one of the girls to retort with a smart response, but no one said anything. Shikamaru looked at his watch and said, "It's 2:30, I haven't eaten lunch, and I'm too tired to say anything."

"Not much different from normal," Neji muttered, but agreed. Slowly, everyone exited the room, leaving Naruto and Hinata in the same position. Naruto didn't want to move, for he feared he'd wake her up when she seemed to finally be getting a good sleep. But as his stomach rumbled loudly, causing her to stir, he decided he needed food. Now.

So, very carefully, he picked her up bridal-style, lay her in the bed (completely forgetting it was Sakura's room, not Hinata's,) and after glancing around to make sure no one else was there, planted a light kiss on her cheek and left with a lingering glance back before he shut the door quietly.

For them, it was nothing romantic. On the contrary, Hinata never thought that her first kiss (or rather, cheek kiss) would have been achieved by rolling off a bed on top of a boy and fainting. But nonetheless, it was good to be loved. Hinata's eyes fluttered open half-way. She gently touched her cheek, which still burned with a kiss, and a small, sheepish smile tugged at the corners of her lips until she fell back to sleep.

* * *

There wasn't much humour in this chapter as I wanted, but I did try to add in some fluff at the end. Jiraya has appeared as requested. I wanted to make his entrance dramatic, but wasn't sure how, so I just had him creep up and 'attack' Hinata.

Once again, I'm really sorry if this chapter didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, but I'll try to do better next time. Reading your reviews actually broke my heart, because everyone was asking for updates and laughing, and I totally let you down. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me this far! I hope I won't disappoint you again (after this horrible chapter.)

I'm so scared to post this, I'm actually shaking right now. Well, I hope you enjoyed.


	13. The Other Camp

KnighteWolfe: Thanks so much for the review. As for the hunting thing, that's a good question. Seeing as you have eliminated Shikamaru, Neji, and Sasuke from the hunting idea, you suggested Naruto be the one to hunt. I just don't see anyone trusting Naruto with a gun. And they had no supplies to hunt, but I never actually thought about any of them having experience in the hunting area.

Anyways, sorry this chapter took a while to get up. Things won't really be exciting or funny for another chapter or two I think, because that's when I'll start the play and stuff like that.

Well, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

The smoke-coloured clouds huddled together and produced a light drizzle that tip-toed on the grounds of a rather boring camp for the time being. The gloomy atmosphere seemed to engulf all that saw it, and no one felt like commuting outside to get to their activities. It was strange to see rain during the summer in those parts, which caught everyone off-guard.

A pair of hazel eyes bounced from scene to scene, observing the people scurrying outside in attempt to get to their cabin. He closed his eyes and mumbled a few random words to himself before glancing at the calendar. "July 11th," he read out loud. He had no need to refer to his schedule, because this was the day he was waiting for ever since his arrival. "July 11th," he repeated before jumping onto his bed and linking his hands behind his head, a small grin spreading across his face.

&&NOS-------------------------

Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed, "SHIIKKKAAAMAARRR---" but before he could finish, a hand slapped firmly against his mouth.

"What do you want?" Shikamaru asked irritably. He yawned loudly as Neji and Sasuke entered the room, looking panicked as they mumbled the standard words one mumbles when confused: who, what, when, where, and why.

Naruto grinned and waved to his friends. "Hey, I just wanted to call you guys over because I got a great idea, so I decided to wake Shikamaru up first so he could go over my plan before I tell you guys so I seem smarter!"

"You didn't have to yell in my ear!" Shikamaru exclaimed, rubbing his eyes.

"Nor did you have to wake us up at 4:37 in the morning!" Neji added in, looking as though he wanted to pummel Naruto into a pancake and eat it, because he was now hungry.

"Yeah, Neji needs his beauty sleep," Sasuke said, a sleepy smile crossing his face.

Naruto pondered this for a moment, then snorted loudly like a pig. "That's right, I forgot not everyone wakes up as beautiful as I do."

"Naruto, you look disgusting in the morning," Shikamaru supplied, falling back onto his pillow.

"Not just in the morning," Sasuke stated, turning to leave.

"Wait, hold on!" Naruto called, reaching his hand as though he could magically pull Sasuke and Neji back. "Now that we're all up anyways--" the other three boys snorted, "--I'll tell you my plan."

The three of them exchanged glances, trying to communicate without words so that Naruto wouldn't know exactly what they were saying. Sasuke kept a stony face, so it was clear that he wasn't changing his opinion soon. Neji's face seemed to be twitching -- Naruto was wondering whether he was for or against staying up. Shikamaru kept widening his eyes, which Naruto took as a 'just go with it' sort of look.

Eventually, the three managed to agree to stay up, much to Naruto's delight. "Don't worry, you guys won't be disappointed!" he promised. "Believe it!"

All four boys sat on Shikamaru's bed facing each other in silence, waiting for Naruto to say something. "We're expecting something really good," Neji warned. "Something completely epic that the girls will remember for the rest of their lives."

Naruto's face was dead serious. All traces of his goofy, idiotic self seemed to have just disappeared from his personality, leaving someone they were almost completely unfamiliar with. The only other times this personality came out was when Naruto was one-hundred percent serious about something, like always sticking by his friends, which he proved on countless occasions. No one dared to challenge him or crack a joke now. All eyes were on Naruto as his dry lips parted.

"I've been thinking about this for the past week, guys," he said quietly, and they knew he was serious. "And I have to say, this is probably the best prank in history."

Sasuke's eager ears ate up every word Naruto was saying. "Well, spill! What's the prank?"

And at last, a small, mischievous grin spread across his face.

&&NOS-------------------------------------------

Sakura shook violently Tenten until she mumbled for her cotton candy haired friend to leave. However, Sakura insisted that Tenten wake up at that moment. She begged and begged until Tenten finally sat up with blood-shot eyes.

"What is it?" the brown haired girl snapped.

"Sasuke's been asking me about Akira lately," Sakura whispered as to not disturb the other two girls.

"Who?"

"My boyfriend, remember?"

"Oh, the fake one." Tenten let out a little chuckle as she remembered the jealousy in Sasuke's eyes when Akira was mentioned. "What do you want me to do about it?"

Sakura clasped her hands in a way one would for prayer and bowed her head. "Please, convince one of your brothers to pretend to be Akira for me! At least on the phone, just once. Sasuke says he wants to talk to Akira!"

Tenten wasn't thinking straight since it was 4:20 in the morning, which Sakura decided to take advantage of. Tenten glanced around the room, though it was clear she wasn't properly awake by the way she was swaying from side to side, then looked back at Sakura.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she mumbled before immediately falling back to sleep.

Sakura smiled. She knew Tenten's brothers enough to know that they wouldn't mind playing along with her story. And it wasn't like Sasuke would actually have to meet Akira, right?

&&NOS-------------------------------------------

"A WHOOPEE CUSHION?" Neji roared before launching himself at Naruto, locking his hands around the blond boy's throat. Naruto let out a strangled cry and tried to signal his sideline friends to help him. All Shikamaru and Sasuke could do was stare.

"Dude, get a room," Shikamaru stated, though he was unable to turn away because he slightly enjoyed seeing Naruto getting strangled.

"I told you they were gay!" Sasuke shrieked, pointing and the scene and jumping up and down on the bed. Shikamaru shot him a strange look, and Sasuke quickly plopped back down. "Sorry, but I _did _tell you."

"Don't sound so eager," Shikamaru advised.

Neji stopped strangling Naruto for a few seconds, giving him enough time to glare at Sasuke and say, "I told you, I didn't put Naruto's clothes in my bed! We already established that it was a prank by the girls."

Eventually, Naruto began turning an unpleasant blue, and that was when Shikamaru and Sasuke had to step in.

"I can't believe you woke us up at four in the morning to tell us we should prank them with a whoopee cushion!" Neji huffed, crossing his arms.

"Hey," Naruto said defensively, "just because it's a classic, doesn't mean it could give ultimate impact. I mean, Shikamaru stole Ino's diary, and _that's _a classic, isn't' it?"

Suddenly, Shikamaru looked at Sasuke and Neji, who looked equally surprised, as though they were all hit by a truck. They had completely forgotten about the diary!

Shikamaru jumped off his bed and began rummaging through the bedside drawers and tables, papers flying everywhere so it looked as though it was snowing…paper-shaped snow.

Sasuke caught one of the pieces, raised an eyebrow, and smirked. "Why do you have pieces of paper that have 'Ino Nara' and 'Mrs. Shikamaru Nara' written all over them in cursive writing?"

"Those are mine," Shikamaru mumbled, grabbing them back from Sasuke, who burst out laughing.

"This is the serious work you do when you lock yourself up in your room?" Naruto asked incredulously. "I thought you were doing something important!"

The three boys swore they heard a 'it is,' but brushed it off as their imagination. Eventually, Shikamaru emerged from the piles of paper with small, purple book with a cute little pig on the cover.

"I can't believe she hasn't realized it's missing," he whispered with awe, staring at though it was a magical talking book. "We'd be screwed if she knew."

"That's a given," Neji added, glancing out the window with slight paranoia glinting in his eyes. "Well, did you find anything we could use?"

"This is the entry from our first night here." Shikamaru cleared his throat authoritatively and began to read.

"Dear Diary,

Today is my first night at summer camp, or, for a lack of a better word, prison. It's cool because Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten are here, and the activities seem fine. But, much to our dismay, we found four cockroaches sent from hell to suck up the last drops of happiness in our lives.

One is so loud and annoying. He's a stereotypical blonde: stupid, loud, obnoxious, hyperactive, and did I mention stupid?"

"Look who's talking!" Naruto exclaimed, unable to comprehend that someone would even think that _he_ was unintelligent!

"Continue," Sasuke mumbled, glaring at Naruto and the diary.

"The other two think they're hotshots and girl magnets. One's hair looks like a chicken's ass (took that from the ever-brilliant Sakura Haruno,) and the other looks like a woman in drag. I swear, if you put him and Hinata next to each other (they're cousins, you know,) you could guess that Hinata's the guy and he's the girl.

"The last one is so annoying. He thinks he knows everything just because his IQ is like a bazillion. I'm honestly not sure if I'd rather spend a week with Daiki than a whole month with these jerks.

"But get this! I didn't know this before, but the hotshot with butt-shaped hair is Sasuke Uchiha! I can't believe _that's _the guy Sakura and I were crushing on. I guess sometimes it is better to admire from afar. He wasn't that bad until we saw that annoying smirk and heard him speak."

"Well," Sasuke said awkwardly, "that's pleasant." Sasuke's face had been spread through magazines the most, and he was the most in the public eye because he attended most of his brother's games. He knew there were tons of girls that swooned at him, but knowing that he was actually socializing with two of them made him feel weird.

"Give me that," Neji muttered, grabbing it from Shikamaru's hands.

He flipped through the diary going backwards into the past before their arrival. Then, slowly but surely, a sly grin spread across his face.

----------------------------------

"Okay kids, line up!" Kurenai exclaimed, gesturing for them to form lines. "We're going to visit the other camp and, as you kids say, mingle."

"Actually, everyone says that," Kakashi corrected.

"Leave the youthful lingo to me, Kurenai," Gai grinned, flashing her his unique smile. "Okay, ma homies, let's get down and funky with them brothas from another motha!"

Sasuke twitched. "No one talks like that here," he said as everyone else tried to erase that scene from their memories. "Except for Kankuro."

"Hey!" came a cry of protest from the crowd. Everyone looked around and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he does say that," and "What a loser," were common phrases transferred between each other.

"Just line your asses up before I kick them," Asuma sighed, exasperated. He didn't even want to be there, let alone go meet more obnoxious rich kids. All he wanted was to step outside and take a long, sweet drag. Unfortunately, Kurenai had taken all of his cigarettes, so he was going through a withdrawal.

Everyone snapped into position, not wanting to face the wrath of a tired and frustrated Asuma. The other camp was a thirty minute walk surrounded by mud, rotting oak, ticks, and dead leaves. Everyone wore sweatshirts, hats, or jackets with their hoods on.

"You know," Naruto whispered mischievously as he put his own hood on, "if you don't wear your hood, Hinata, ticks will fall from the tree branches and dig into your skull. It's true. One of my friends had it happen to them!" **(1)**

Hinata's eyes widened as a chill travelled down her spine. She quickly pulled her hood over her hair and peered around, searching for any signs of danger.

Eventually they approached a camp that almost mirror their own. There were the same amount of cabins built the same way on the outside and probably in, and the landscaping was the same as well.

Out of the main cabin stepped a man with large darting eyes. His fingers tapped against each other in a nervous yet plotting manner. He wore a long black robe that covered every inch of him. His jet black, floppy bangs covered his right eye and traced down his neck.

"Yes, yes, you must be the people from the other camp," he said quietly, staring hard at the faces before him.

"Uh, yeah," Kakashi said awkwardly, extending his hand. "I'm Kakashi, and you are…?"

"That is none of your business!" he snapped quickly, then laughed nervously.

"Can somebody said unstable?" Neji whispered to Shikamaru, who suppressed a laugh.

The strange man continued. "Now quickly, get inside before---"

Iruka decided to speak up. "But I thought we were getting together in this large area outside---"

"Yes, yes, but I want you to see something special now getinsidebeforeiforceyouin!"

"Oh, Popo!" a cheery voice sang. It was smothered in butter and candy and was a voice that could shatter glass. "Where are you, my darling brother?"

"Popo?" Anko repeated.

"That's not my name!" the man they assumed was Popo exclaimed hastily, searching for a place to hide. "I have no idea who that psycho is!"

Suddenly, a man came running towards them. He was quite large, donning a pink apron and shorts too short to be comfortable. He had curly blonde hair and a stylish moustache that didn't really seem to suit him.

He launched himself at the poor man in black who was in the midst of escaping, and they both fell to the ground together.

"Oh Popo, I have been looking all over pour toi!" Suddenly, he turned around and saw the large crowd of teens and adults staring at him. He jumped to his feet, dusted off his clothing, and bowed deeply. "Oh, pardonnez-moi! Je m'appelle Jean-Strong, and zis is mon petit brother, Popo!"

"Stop that!" Popo screeched. "We aren't French, your name isn't Jean-Strong, and my name isn't Popo!"

Jean-Strong, or whatever his name was, pouted like a kid, an expression reaching beyond disturbing. "Mais, a French chef seems much better than un chef qui is not French. Le French cuisine is the finest in le monde!"

"This is too confusing for me," Kurenai sighed. "Who are you two?"

"Nous?" Jean-Strong asked, giggling. "Nous sommes les camp leaders, like you. Je suis the main leader, et my twin brother, Popo, is my assistant."

Suddenly, a crowd of teenagers approached. One boy caught Ino's eyes, and he was chatting loudly with his friends.

"And so I was able to escape the fire-breathing dragon and save the princess. She offered me her number, but I had to say no because my parents are trying to set me up with this girl. Maybe you've heard of her? In---" suddenly hazel eyes met blue and both jaws dropped. "---oh. Well, this is a pleasant surprise, isn't it?"

Tenten snorted. "Hey look, Ino. It's Daiki!"

The four boys raised their eyebrows, somewhat recalling that they heard that name before. Slowly, they all turned to face the dumbfounded blonde, who gaped but said nothing.

"No, Ten, don't be silly," Ino said, laughing nervously. "Daiki is on vacation with his parents in Australia or Europe or wherever they went."

But when she turned around to face her friend again, Tenten was already heading towards said boy, a wide grin spread across her face.

"Hey Dai, what's up?" she said. "Hide and Aki have been asking about you."

Before Daiki could respond, Ino's arms stretched out as though she ate Gum-Gum Fruit (A/N: Don't ask. One Piece reference.) and pulled Tenten's back.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, squeezing Tenten's shoulders with much more strength than she intended. "How can you be so friendly with that…that…jerk!"

Tenten smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, but he's my brothers' friend. Besides, I don't think he's that bad."

"That's because you don't have to live near him and marry him!" Ino retaliated, and Tenten threw her hands up in surrender. "What are you doing here?" Ino snapped as Tenten and Sakura restrained her.

Daiki fake-pouted. "Lovely to see you, too." He turned to his friends and gestured to Ino, whose face was now as red as a tomato. "Everyone, this is my, in a way, fiancee, Miss Ino Yamanaka."

"Fiancee?!" Shikamaru exclaimed with more volume than he anticipated, causing many people to jump. "I mean, fiancee?" he repeated, regaining his cool. "You guys are only sixteen!"

"Actually, I'm eighteen," Daiki piped up, but was ultimately ignored.

"I don't want to talk about it," Ino muttered, her eyes drifting up towards the clearing sky. _Why did we have to visit the other stupid camp anyways? It was fine at the other one. _

And once again, the oh-so-familiar silence made its way into the air, and the only sort of communication shared between people were awkward smiles and intimidating stares (mostly done by Sasuke and Neji.) That is, until another oh-so-familiar voice cut through the air.

"Dai-Dai-nii-san!"

Everyone whipped around (except for the people who were already facing that direction, duh) to see a large, green, ego-inflated head bouncing into view, followed by a blood-red head not far behind.

Daiki smiled and waved her over. Hinata gasped; Tenten's jaw dropped; Ino scowled; Sakura hissed; and the boys did similar actions as they saw the hideous (in the girls' minds) faces of Chie and Aya.

"Dai-Dai?" Neji repeated, not sure whether he should laugh or keep his stoic expression.

"Nii-san?" Naruto yelled.

No one saw this next sentence coming from Aya's ruby-red lips. She crossed her arms and stood in a model-like stance. "Daiki's my cousin."

And it all went downhill from there…

* * *

**(1)** - Someone told me this while we were hiking through the woods, and I got so paranoid that they would really do that. But I'm not kidding. Ticks will get you.


	14. Author's Note II

Dear Readers,

It's been a long time since I've updated, I know. And I know this isn't a new chapter, but _please_ keep reading because I'm going to get right to the point.  
I haven't been able to write any more Naruto for the simple fact that the last time I watched it was almost three years ago. However, someone has PMed me a while ago and, after making sure she has the time, she has agreed to continue it!  
Here is a link to the story, and her username is Midnight Vinyls:

.net/s/6165591/1/No_Ordinary_Summer

She's currently posting about one chapter (each chapter that I've already written) per day and writing the updated chapter to go along with it.

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported me through this story and all my other ones. I really mean that.

Sincerely,  
Alusy.


	15. Revelation!

I know most of you probably hate me by now and that my apology might not mean much, but I am so sorry for teetering on whether I'd continue this story or not. If anyone still watching me can put up with what might be infrequent updates, then thank you so much. I really mean it.  
But I just finished exams and I'm onto summer break, so I'll try to update more often. Chapters will probably be shorter than they used to be and the humour may not be that great, but I'll try my best. I just wanted to say **THANK YOU SO MUCH** to everyone who has continued to follow this story. I hope I won't let you down.

* * *

The supervising adults seemed to sense the impending danger accompanying such a horrifying revelation. Even Anko, who was usually more than willing to stand by and watch a dramatic fight, agreed to intervene.

"Are you going to invite us in, or are we just going to stand around here?" Iruka asked Jean-Strong nervously, his eyes darting between the two groups of teenagers.

"Oh~!" Jean-Strong replied, batting his eyelashes thoughtfully. "Mais, of course, please come in. I have prepared un meal delicious!" With bunny-steps, he ushered the teens like a hoard of sheep, fencing them into the main hall and, with extreme vigor, directed them to their seats.

The food was already placed before them. A steaming plate of steak, rice and mashed potatoes with a side of ketchup. Each square table seated four, but many groups were beginning to push their tables together to form a long line. Daiki was, as Ino so angrily pointed out, was sitting in the centre. People stared and gathered around him as though hearing his "squealing" voice would grant them eternal life.

Hinata gave a side-glance in Naruto's direction and the mutual thought of pushing their tables together formed. But Sasuke whispered something to Naruto and the blond protested loudly before turning his back to the lilac-eyed girl. She sighed with defeat and took the seat nearest him.

Ino quickly cut her steak into small pieces. Tenten watched with curiosity as she watched Ino grow more and more concentrated.

"Don't burst a blood vessel," the brunette commented, stuffing a spoonful of potatoes into her mouth. "What are you even doing, anyways?"

Ino looked up, but not at Tenten. She glared virulent daggers at Daiki, who was gesticulating widely and stirring up a chorus of laughter, all the while passing playful winks at Ino. The blonde looked down and continued to rearrange the food on her plate. She paused thoughtfully when it formed what could crudely be described as a face. She then snatched the bowl of ketchup from Sakura and slathered her plate, and proceeded to stab the tiny pieces and shove them violently into her mouth.

Daiki's mouth dropped to the table.

"Glad you can get your message across without violence," Sakura mumbled, trying to suppress her laughter. Ino sneered in return.

However, the rest of the guys saw this display, too.

"So much for marrying a chill woman, Shikamaru," Naruto remarked almost too loudly. If the girls weren't discussing matters concerning Ino's mental stability, they might have heard.

Shikamaru almost choked on his food. "Yeah, right! She's a complete psycho. I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot stick."

Neji rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Mr. Ino Nara."

Shikamaru flushed. "That doesn't even make sense. I'd still be Shikamaru Nara."

"Not unless she makes you hyphenate your last name," Sasuke pointed out, swinging his fork about in a matter-of-fact way. "You know you'd give in. Heck, you'd change your name to Ronald McDonald if it would make her shut up."

Shikamaru's attempted retort died in his mouth. Even though he was still years away from marriage, he knew he'd get steamrolled by his wife (who would definitely _not_ be Ino Yamanaka, he mentally added.)

"Yeah, whatever. I just wonder how that Daiki guy is gonna stand her. You'd think they'd devour each other."

Sasuke nodded. "A loud person needs someone quieter to balance them out. It's the simple laws of physics: opposites attract."

Suddenly, each of the boys lapsed into awkward silence. They made a tacit promise to not speak about how that could apply to them and each girl they liked. And because none of them liked to talk about their feelings, they resorted to mutterings of the weather and how they wanted to go back to their own camp as soon as possible.

But it wasn't only the students who were uneasy about the get together with the other camp. The teachers also wanted to go back, and were trying (unsuccessfully) to formulate a plan.

"We should just leave," Anko said bluntly, giving another female supervisor from the other camp the evil eye. "Tell 'em thanks for everything and hope to see them again."

"We can't just leave," Iruka reasoned. "We just arrived and they might have some activities for us to do together. We should at least give them a chance."

A loud chorus of disagreement swallowed Iruka whole and he shrunk further into his seat.

Kakashi noticed Iruka's distress. He usually wouldn't have helped, especially since he was currently reading the third book in his favourite series. The female protagonist was about to finally confess her love to the male protagonist after taking a bullet for him, but he knew he would undoubtedly tear up (he was reluctant to admit that the first book had him up the whole night wiping tears from his eyes.) He also recalled how Iruka trusted him about that bowling ball incident.

"How about wait for the camp leader, exchange a few polite words, then leave?" he offered. "We won't even have to talk. Just nod and smile as Tsunade tries to keep up a conversation. Either that, or she can use her _assets_ to swoon the guy into submission and get us to leave early."

The fork in Tsunade's hand suddenly snapped in half. She shot Kakashi a glare so murderous, all conversation in the hall froze. "One more word and that'll be your neck," she threatened through clenched teeth.

Daiki, of course, was the first to resume conversation. "Man, that lady is scary. She's almost as bad as our camp leader."

"I beg to differ," Ino challenged rather loudly.

Daiki responded with a grin. "Don't beg, sweetie. It's unbecoming of you."

"Okay, chill out both of you!" Sakura said quickly as Tenten hooked her arms around Ino to restrict the latter's violent gestures. "Does everything have to be a competition?"

"It's not competition if I always win," Ino sneered, unsuccessfully attempting to maneuver out of Tenten's grasp.

"Ino, if you don't shut up I'm going to drag you outside until you calm down," the brunette grunted, trying to keep her balance as the wild blonde kicked her legs off of the ground like a stampeding bull.

"_Everybody, pleasssse calm down._"

Suddenly, the world stopped. It was as though fear, as a tangible monster, swallowed their souls, leaving nothing but an empty shell to shiver in a world without heat. Hinata pulled her jacket tighter around her body. Her eyes briefly met with her cousin's and they exchanged nods, knowing that it could only be them to pinpoint the origin of such a terrifying voice.

Hinata searched, but with no luck. She turned to ask her cousin if he had found anything when her mouth dropped open. On Neji's face was a look of utter trauma, which she soon found was reflected on her own face.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" Tenten asked, completely ignorant to the fact that Ino had slipped out of her clutches and was now stretching her limbs in a threatening manner.

"Neji," Hinata whispered almost inaudibly, "he... he's never looked this traumatized since he found out he ran out of his So Sexy conditioner.

Tenten made a mental note to use this as blackmail, but realized that the impending danger was much more important. "Neji, what is it? What do you see?"

Neji silently shook his head then, ever so quietly, whispered, "_He's coming_."

The door to the dining hall creaked open slowly, painfully, like a prolonged scream of a terrified child. Everyone except for the students at other camp wanted to lean forward to see who this mysterious person was. No, they seemed to have the better idea of shielding their eyes.

The man who walked in had long, dark hair worn straight and loose.

"Relative of yours, Hyuuga?" Sasuke sneered, receiving a jab to the ribs.

The man's eyes were bright and golden, his skin a sickly pale under the fluorescent lighting. He walked gracefully, and if his long peach trench coat reached it ground, it would have looked like he was floating. He stopped a couple of feet away from the Kurenai's seat and slowly raised his arms, making a gesture like wanting to embrace the entire dining hall.

"I'm happy to see that everyone is so... feisty and eager to make friends."

"Oh my God," Tsunade cried, attempting to bury her face in her hands.

Asuma raised an eyebrow. "You know that man?"

She groaned. He took that as a yes.

"Well, if you're trying keep him from recognizing you, it isn't your face that you should be hiding," Kakashi offered. He knew that Tsunade wouldn't be able to attack him at that moment if she wanted to remain inconspicuous, so he wanted to get as many jabs in before they returned to their own camp.

"For those of you who don't know me," the mysterious man continued, his eyes sweeping over the somewhat unfamiliar audience, "I am this camp's leader, Orochimaru. But you can call me _Mama_."

Sakura's wrapped her arms around her body. She suddenly felt very invaded. "What the hell is he talking about?" she hissed.

"Mama is, of course, from the _maru_ part of my name," Orochimaru added quickly, as though trying to appear less creepy. "It's a nickname. I thought it was quite hip." Silence. "Never mind. Anyways, welcome one and all. Hopefully the earlier tensions will melt once we warm up to each other." He smiled strangely.

Sasuke leaned over to Naruto and cupped his hand around the latter's ear. "Can you say pedophile?"

Orochimaru's eyes suddenly darted to the raven-haired boy, who froze in his spot. Naruto could feel that his friend had stopped breathing in hopes of remaining undiscovered. Of course, it failed miserably.

"Ah, Sasuke Uchiha," Orochimaru said, slowly gliding towards the boys' table. Shikamaru, Naruto and Neji all made a mental note to kill Sasuke for this if they ever made it home. "Do you recognize me?"

"Should I?" Sasuke voice came out as a quiet squeak.

"My dear boy, I coached your brother's basketball team once upon a time." He placed what he probably thought was a reassuring hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Yes, you look just like him. Please, send him my regards."

A small smile spread across the man's face.

Sasuke died internally.

Neji contemplated giving his friend CPR, but decided that he'd probably rather remain dead until they got back. Besides, any more physical contact may send him into cardiac arrest. And Neji didn't want to draw attention to himself. _I mean, if Sasuke turns that freak on, imagine what my good looks will do!_ Neji thought, shivering.

Much to Tsunade's anger, Orochimaru pleasantly took a seat at their table.

"He smiles an awful lot," Kurenai muttered suspiciously.

"It's because he's _youthful_, Kurenai!" Gai exclaimed.

"Youthful? He's fifty!"

Gai gasped, as though this was the most blasphemous thing ever uttered. "Youth. Knows. No. AGE!" he yelled, enunciating each word like drilling the message into her brain.

"Thank you for _not_ blurting out what was supposed to be a secret conversation, Gai," Kurenai replied sarcastically. She rubbed her temples, trying to ward off the incoming migraine that always accompanied Gai's presence.

"My, my, what lively supervisors you have," Orochimaru remarked. His unusually long tongue ran across his lips.

Everyone cringed.

Even the conversation tried to die, but Orochimaru had a special talent in bringing dead things back to life (har har, reference to the actual series.) "Imagine my surprise when I heard you were running your own camp. And one so close to mine, no less!"

"Yeah, what a coincidence," the blonde mumbled. "I actually think it's less likely that _you're_ running a summer camp for teens. What are you up to?"

"Nothing at all. I just recalled how much fun you, Jiraya and I had during summer camp and thought to spread that joy to other teenagers. Think of me as the Summer Santa."

"No thanks."

Sasuke tried ignoring the strange looks his friends, and even the girls at the other table, were giving him. He even tried to find a rational reason. But no matter how much he wracked his brain, he couldn't think of anything.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Ino whispered something to Sakura, who nodded gravely and turned away. He swore he heard her whisper "Disgusting!" under her breath.

"What? _What?_"

"First Tsunade and now Orochimaru," Naruto remarked, shaking his head with disappointment. "Do you have a thing for old people?"

"What! No! I don't like them at all! It's purely platonic, if that!"

Shikamaru wagged his finger in a tut-tut-tut manner. "You touched Tsunade's breasts, Sasuke. That's usually not platonic."

"Sakura _pushed _me into those things!"

"Mm-hmm."

"I guess that explains a lot," Neji said in an off-handed manner before taking a sip of water.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. He knew better than to inquire into Neji's dark mind, that he was walking straight into the Hyuuga's web. Besides, he could see that Naruto would demand an explanation, so to save his pride, Sasuke waited a few seconds.

As predicted, Naruto burst. "What? Explains what, Neji?"

"Why Sasuke doesn't like Sakura," Neji said coolly, deflecting the look of utter disbelief shot in his direction. "She's either too flat or too young, am I right? If we just changed one of those two things you'd probably be all over her."

"Shut up, she's perfectly fine the way she is!"

Suddenly, his friends all sported the same mischievous grins.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Wait, I didn't mean what you're thinking!"

"You _do _like her," Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke quickly slapped his hand over the blond's mouth. The girls all raised curious eyebrows.

"Of course I like my mom, Naruto," Sasuke laughed nervously.

"Did you hear that?" Ino said, barely loud enough for the boys to hear. "His own mother, too. How sick."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that!" Hinata defended. "I love both of my parents. Does that make me disgusting?"

"Don't you remember the incident with Tsunade?" Tenten added, carefully eyeing Sasuke as though he would spontaneously pull out a knife and murder everyone within reach.

Sasuke slammed his head onto the table and let out a loud moan. And even if he knew that Tenten and Ino were in cahoots with his friends to tease him into humiliation, he probably wouldn't have felt much better.


	16. And So the World Ends

I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long. I started writing the day I posted the previous chapter, but I somehow caught a sore throat which in turn became a cold. In the summer. My brother was nice enough to watch TV (Yu-Gi-Oh!) and play video games with me (Phoenix Wright, guys, PLAY IT!) but he wouldn't write the rest of the story if I dictated it to him. And some time during the cold, I lost inspiration again. I really think it's because I haven't been reading. But now that I've started again, I'm getting more inspiration to write. Thank so much for staying with me and my inconsistencies!

And just a quick note. Please thank **midnight vinyls**. She's also given me inspiration for what to write next. It was her (or rather, her sister's) idea to make the play kabuki-styled.

Well, enough of my ranting. I wonder if anyone actually reads my notes before the story?

* * *

Needless to say, the meeting of the camps wasn't exactly going as predicted. People still hung out with others from their respective camps. Even Ino was now unwilling to traverse the sacred gap. And this made Orochimaru very sad, because he valued friendship above all else. Especially friendship between teenagers. In the least-creepy way, of course.

"How saddening," he remarked aloud, watching glares inch enemy tables further and further from each other. "This is just like how our first camp experience went, isn't it, Tsunade?"

Tsunade shrugged. "I guess. If they don't want to fraternize, they don't have to. We were planning on leaving soon anyways."

"Nonsense. Not until I pitch my brilliant idea."

Tsunade cocked her head to the side. "What... idea?" The combination of Orochimaru and brilliance resulted in a terrifying scenario. That was one of the reasons she kept as little contact with Jiraya and that snake as she could.

"I heard you're planning on having a play at your camp."

"And where did you hear that from?"

"This youthful fellow over here," he said, gesturing to a smiling Gai. "He said you were planning on making it Romeo and Juliet. I recommend that both camps come together to perform this play."

"Over Jiraya's dead body," she replied.

Orochimaru smiled in the way that made children half-way around the world burst into tears of fear. "I hope you haven't forgotten that... _secret_ that I found out about all those years ago."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, you know I'd do anything!"

Iruka leaned over to Kakashi. "Does anything this man says _not_ sound suggestive or illegal in some manner?"

"Nope."

Tsunade gripped the end of the tablecloth. "Fine, you win. Announce your stupid idea. But my campers get the main roles since it was originally our idea."

"Oh, sure, sure!" Orochimaru seemed so excited about the idea that he forgot the leverage he had in their fight. He stood up and clapped twice, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Everyone, I am pleased to say that I and the other camp leader, Tsunade, have come to a decision regarding friendship-building activities."

The eight teens sunk further into their seats. So much for leaving early.

"Now, Tsunade's camp members might know about the idea of the play Romeo and Juliet being held at their camp. But we have jointly decided that the play will include both camps. Isn't that a good idea?"

Everyone, including teenagers from the other camp, joined together in a chorus of "Boo!" and "No way!"

Orochimaru smiled and closed his eyes. "Yes, I also think it is a good idea. Auditions will be held at your respective camps, and we, the adults, will come together and release the results the next day."

Ino glanced around the room, blatantly ignoring Daiki's suggestive expression, and was surprised to see Temari staring right at her.

"You said you're trying out for the main role, right?" Temari called from the table over.

Ino grinned. "Right. You are too, if I remember correctly."

Suddenly, Orochimaru spun elegantly on his heels and briskly walked to Ino's table. Hinata inched her chair away slowly until it bumped into Naruto's. She smiled nervously and turned to hide her blush.

"Oh, no, you won't be trying out for the play," Orochimaru said pointedly to Ino and Temari. "This is going to be a kabuki-styled play."

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked loudly.

Shikamaru cringed. "It means that all roles will be played by males."

Suddenly, the entire dining hall exploded into an uproar. Boys burst into tears at the thought of this terrifying revelation, while girls burst into fiery retaliations.

"This sets the women's movement back a hundred years!" Sakura exclaimed hotly.

"Forget the women's movement," Ino said louder. "This was the only thing I was looking forward to at this stupid camp!"

But it seemed that Orochimaru wasn't through. He waited until it had somewhat calmed down (the only reason being that many students had fainted) then decided to deliver the final blow. "And this last part, well, I can't exactly take all the credit. I had to promise Tsunade that her camp would have the larger roles because it was her idea-"

Said blonde sunk into her seat and gripped her head. _Oh, hell no._

"- so, the boys at the other camp will have the pleasure of _thrilling _me- I mean _us_, with their stunning acting skills."

-&&NOS-

Upon the return to their camp, the boys were immediately ushered towards the arts building. A list of characters and how large their roles were was neatly pinned up for the (non-)impending rush. All of the boys found their own spots along the walls of the room, staring at the sheets of paper with such intensity as though they were the tangible form of death.

Suddenly, Shikamaru twitched. Sasuke turned slightly, never taking his eyes off of the demonic list. "You alright?"

But Shikamaru made no verbal response. Instead, he gave a heavy sigh and trudged towards the papers. Everyone gasped with horror, watching the brave soldier marching to his death.

Shikamaru's eyes ran over the sheets patiently, as though he was analyzing the writing for some hidden message. Then, he slowly took the pen from the desk and signed his name next to a role. He walked back in silence and took his spot against the wall.

"You... you signed up for something?" Naruto asked, aghast. "How could you? You _want_ to do this?"

"Of course not, you moron," Shikamaru hissed. "But once the shock of this play wares out on everyone else, they'll realize that they need to move fast if they want a small part."

"That's brilliant," Sasuke squealed, clasping his hands together eagerly. Without another second to spare, he rushed over to the sign-up sheets. But his sudden eagerness must have got the cogs turning in the minds of the other boys, for their faces it up with realization. Suddenly, all of the boys flew off the walls and charged to claim the smallest roles possible. Pushing oneself to the front was hard enough, but reading the names with a wave of people crashing one back and forth? And on top of that, most of the boys realized... they had never read the play.

All the roles titled Servant, Nurse, and the numbered citizens were taken up first. After all, they didn't have an actual name. How big could their roles be? But once those were taken, the names left included Benvolio, Friar Laurence, Paris, and of course, Romeo and Juliet. It didn't take much brain power to determine that Romeo and Juliet were roles to avoid.

Not many people were fighting for roles any more. People dragged their arms up and signed next to unfamiliar names, then exited the room and hoped for the best. Sasuke pulled his hair in anxiety, finally deciding to sign up for Balthasar. Without sensing the presence of someone behind him, Sasuke crashed shoulders with a sturdy figure. He glanced up and quirked an eyebrow.

"What, Hyuuga? Still haven't signed up?"

"I'll sign up when I'm ready." He stared at the onyx-eyed boy until he left.

Neji glanced around the room and, when he was sure no one else was in the room, scribbled his name next to Juliet.

-&&NOS-

The four girls were lounging in the couches and chairs, watching boys go in and out of the audition cabin. Some of the more familiar faces stopped by to share their exciting exploits (Lee), while most lamented about how the lack of girls was a demotivator (Kiba and Kankuro).

But Naruto was the first of the four boys who actually sat down with the girls. He bent over, his head between his legs, and continued to mumble in a horrified trance.

"Was it really _that_ bad?" Sakura inquired after watching his still figure for five minutes.

"Yes!" he cried out in response, lifting his head.

Somehow his constant melodrama made her doubt this. "What role did you read for?"

"I don't know, it was all just a blur. But they cut me off half-way and gave me a completely different script."

"I'm sure you did great," Hinata praised nervously. He glanced at her and offered a half-hearted smile, which, Hinata being Hinata, returned full-heartedly. This raised his spirits a bit, but not enough.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "He doesn't want to do great," she corrected. She kicked off her shoes and propped her feet onto the corner of the coffee table. "Don't worry, I'm sure you screwed up and they'll give you stage lighting or something."

Naruto's ears perked up like a puppy being offered a treat after days of starvation. "You really think so?" Then he paused thoughtfully, recalling how his audition went. "Yeah, I see it now. I don't think they could have understood anything when I fell into that pit of hysteria."

"No one can understand you now."

Everyone glanced up to see the smug, steady look of Neji Hyuuga. It appeared that his audition wasn't nearly as traumatizing as Naruto's was. Either that, or he was a cooler cucumber than they thought.

"I guess your audition went well," Tenten commented smoothly, careful to not let any emotions show until she could analyze what he was thinking.

Inwardly, Neji was bouncing around with glee. He read his lines with such passionate angst, even dropping to the floor and performing the death scene himself. The gaping judges couldn't have been anything but amazed at his skills. It definitely wasn't shock or horror.

But he couldn't just come out and say this. So he let a small, careful smirk cross his face. He didn't trust himself to speak, so this was his only response.

Eventually they were joined by Sasuke and Shikamaru. The former's face was blanched, but it was evident that he was trying to exercise control. The latter, on the other hand, looked as though he had just woken up.

"He almost slept through your entire audition!" Sasuke said incredulously. "When I came in to do mine, he was stretching. He hadn't even read through his lines yet."

"I was tired," Shikamaru said defensively. "Hopefully they'll take my lack of enthusiasm and give me a stage role."

"Damn it," Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth. "I should have done that."

Ino, who was listening with uncharacteristic patience, gave a loud, heavy sigh. She was met with puzzled looks. The blonde shrugged. "I just don't understand why girls can't audition. I mean, it's obvious the entire thing is going to be a disaster. They're really just going to make fools of themselves."

"For once," Shikamaru began, stunned, "I agree." Everyone else nodded in reluctant concurrence. It was a strange feeling, sharing a mutual thought between all of them. It was almost... nice? No, that couldn't have been it. There was no way they would allow it.

"Does anyone know when the cast list is coming out?" Naruto asked with a mix of dread and anticipation.

Shikamaru made unnecessary counting motions with his fingers. "Considering the fact that we have just under two weeks to memorize our lines, it could come out as early as this evening." As if to confirm his suspicions, a bus belonging to the other camp rolled into the driveway and honked its horn thrice. All of the camp leaders trudged out, with the exception of Gai, who walked with a hop-skip and a jump, of the audition cabin and entered the bus. The reluctant Asuma (who was about as enthusiastic about the ordeal as Shikamaru) was being dragged by the ear by Kurenai. If only Gai (who _no one_ trusted to make rational decisions about the castings) was willing to stay behind.

"I guess," Tenten said, "all we can do is wait." On the outside, she appeared almost sympathetic, something incredibly uncharacteristic of her. But underneath that deceptive frown was something her friends we all familiar with: a chilling anticipation for someone's embarrassment.

The next three hours were painful, but of course, not in the usual sense. Most people wanted to get the roles they signed up for. The ones who were forced to try out for the larger roles did their best to be as charming as a dead slug. Their dispassion seemed to be contagious, because the judges were seeing the play as less of a fun activity and more of a prison sentence. And if choosing the roles was hard enough, they would have to help coach the actors and even endure the catastrophe.

The bus pulls back into the driveway, announcing its presence reluctantly with an unintentional honk. The sound was followed by a succession of others. Asuma's hand had slipped the first time and landed on the horn, but each time that followed was due to his head being slammed repeatedly against the horn by a furious Kurenai. As if dealing with the freakshow at the other camp wasn't enough.

They processed out of the bus like they were attending a funeral. They did everything they could, discreetly trying to include the least mount of their teens in the play as they could. They even brought up a few exceptional female teens who would be more than willing to take the lead female roles (if anything would bring up the male enthusiasm, it was including girls.) But Orochimaru was intolerant of other ideas. He insisted that his students were incredibly excited (this was highly doubted, but Tsunade's fist could only argue for so long without a passionate Jean-Strong crying to call the police).

In the end, Kakashi held the final list of the cast. Looking at it once was enough for him. But Tsunade's iron grip was unforgiving, so if the list was to survive its journey to their camp, he would have to keep it.

"I'm impressed," Kakashi said, directing his comment at Tsunade.

She looked up. "At what?"

"How you actually fought for these teens. I thought you thought they were just trouble."

Tsunade crossed her arms. "I wasn't fighting for them. It's the principle of the matter. It's that _damn snake_! I just want to-"

Whatever colourful language and vivid description of what she would do was lost in the cawing of crows. An omen, to say the least. However, the rest of the adults got the gist of what she was saying through interpreting her telling gestures. The males cringed.

Kakashi trudged through the parting sea of teens. One sheet of paper was all that was needed. They had done their best, splitting the roles about fifty-fifty. The paper hung like it was dangling on a noose. Like it was the males' last shreds of dignity vying for one last breath.

Naruto glanced at his friends. The three of them nodded and walked forward in unison. Whatever was coming next, they could face with friendship. But they wouldn't join hands, because that would be too melodramatic. And it could give off the wrong idea, which Neji had already gone through with the Naruto incident.

Though Naruto led them forward, it was Sasuke who checked his role first. "Tybalt," he said, rolling the name around in his brain. If he recalled correctly, Tybalt wasn't that important of a character. It wasn't who he signed up for, but he would do.

"Friar Lawrence," Shikamaru said. He sounded neither content nor upset.

Neji felt his breath catch in his throat. This was his moment. He nailed the audition. Nothing would stand in his way.

"Nurse," he read out triumphantly. Then he paused. He could have sworn that wasn't how Juliet was spelled. He read over it again in his mind. N-U-R-S-E. And as if he couldn't suffer any more trauma, Naruto's voice rang out loud and true, shattering any sense of sanity left in the world.

"What the hell? I'm Juliet!"


End file.
